


Parade of Savagery

by Chesterization



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-20 10:47:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 35,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8246176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chesterization/pseuds/Chesterization
Summary: "Corruption, justice, greed, generosity, prejudice, acceptance, hedonism, restraint, false morality, ethic, and so on. Why do you "civilized" animals try so hard to make your lives miserable with these murky concepts? Why don't you just let Mother Nature decide? Wouldn't it be better that way?" Rated T for theme and violent. Update weekly





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:

The following is a fan-based fiction. Zootopia and its characters are owned by Disney. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artist as well.

* * *

 

(The song Parade by Susumu Hirasawa begins to play)

  
Chesterization proudly presents

  
A Zootopia fanfiction

  
**Parade of savagery**

  
(Song ends)

**Chapter 1: Parade**

  
“Good morning, Zootopian! Welcome to the Zootopia’s 100th-anniversary parade, reported live from Main Street.” Said the all too familiar snow leopard reporter. Surrounded her were hundreds of cheering mammals. Some of them were waving colorful flags and banners. She kept her professional smile while turning to the sudden sound of drums. “And here is the parade that we’ve all been looking for.” The crowd’s cheer became louder, as the first float was approaching.

  
The parade started with a float that carried the city’s title. It also housed something that made the crowd go wild. It was a plastic model, which bore a striking resemblance to Zootopia itself. The team behind said float had a hard time painstakingly put it together in the past month. Judging from how well all the districts were portrayed, all their efforts were worth it. Walking beside it like a pair of paladins were a rhino and a lion officer. In their hands were the city’s ceremonial flags.

  
Escorted this float was the marching band champion. After a weeklong battle filled with melody-bloodshed, the underdogs from the Rainforest District had the honor to lead the way. Their music was supposedly the best in the city, and the rest was sub-par compared to them. Regardless, the crowd did not care. They would not mind if a three-year-old kid who tried out drum for the first time playing in this. As long as the melody fuel the parade, they were fine with anything.

  
Speaking of the devil, the other marching bands started coming into the spectators’ views. All were performing their best as if the competition from before had not happened. In their mind, they were still competing with each other. With the crowd as the judge and the cheer as the score, every band tried to outplay one and another. The only exception to this ongoing competition was the mouse band from Little Rodentia. They knew far too well that their volume made it impossible for them to even have a chance to win at the competition. Still, they marched on. Although the sound of cheering from the spectator out-sounded them, they still marched on. Pride on their faces and tiny whispers from their instruments. Was I being too harsh on the little guys? That was a possibility.

  
Next was a string of private companies’ floats. Companies that occupied and made up most of the buildings in Zootopia. There was a Zuber float: simple, slick, and of course jet black in color. The city’s indoor bug farm. Its match made in heaven, Bug Burger, followed . The city’s three major apartment stores joined in. The Uni corporation, the city’s supplier of, well, everything from shampoo to candies. Many more floats follow suit. The crowd just cheered and then forgot these floats and their order almost immediately. All companies' floats just somehow looked the same to spectators after a while. The crowd gave them the same cheer of “HAI HO” or “WOO” along with applause, regardless of what kind of company they were.

  
Then came Gazelle’s float. The word ‘float’ was used extremely loose here. The thing looked and functioned like a mobile concert that you can fit on the street. There were lights, smoke maker, speakers, and everything. The stage was not a simple box design, either. No, it had multiple columns and pedestals. Each had a member of her personal predator dancers. On the top column was the main star. That day, Gazelle wore a glamorous (yet somehow, sparkling) dress. She was performing the unofficial anthem of modern Zootopia: “Try everything”. Despite the song had been blasted across the city, 24/7 during the past year or so, animals still hum along to it.

  
Followed her float was the one owned by Zootopia’s movie industry. Unlike what most would expect from such a business, the float did not resemble anything that would remind you of the industry. So, no giant box office (or was it miniature?), instead, the float was a chunk of a movie set. Yet, it was not just any movie set. It was the fourth installment in the Savage franchise. A multi-millions film series that kept on harvesting more and more money after each sequel. Of course, the producer and the casts were on the float. They did the same routine, smile, wave, and soak the same kind of wave, cheer and applause.  
Next was ZFM, the voice that accompanied the Zootopian who drive to work in the morning. They did not have any fancy stage like Gazelle, and their float was pretty standard. However, their panther DJ possessed beats that messed up the formula of cheer and applause a bit. The crowd started dancing. I would not call that dancing, more like, spontaneous, random, awkward motions of the hip, sprinkled in some strange hands movements. Creative dance as the cool kids these days would put it.

  
After that was the University of Zootopia, the future of the city. Personally, I always love the ones made by university kids. Only the ones who pursuing a career in engineering had their own float. Said float would always follow the school’s main float, which was boring to look at. For the 100th university, the engineering student tried something, new. By new, I meant walking pop culture references, sci-fi TV shows, dragons, and... On second thought, I take back what I have said about them. Let us move on.

  
Like any parade, you always need the essential charities groups and societies. First was the Shelter for the homeless. Nick from the past used to call it: free lunches on Sundays and occasional roof on rainy days. Then it was the Children’s Dream foundation. They provided small, homeless cubs the small chance of being on TV. The religious diversity and animals’ right association, always an important part in a city like Zootopia. Next came the LGBT community in their flamboyance glory. Not all, though, some remained low-key. They were sticking to hold hands and marched along with their straight allies. There were many smaller organizations, as well. And Despite looking less spectacular than the previous floats, these charity groups earn the same amount of applause. Some even thought that these floats earned more cheer and applause than Gazelle’s. These floats would look much better without logos from certain brands and companies. Nevertheless, who would blame them? Communities like them need sponsorship for this sort of grandiose event.

  
The new elected mayor’s float finally arrived. In front of it was a large sign that said, “Mayor Mark Thumper”. With a name like that, I wonder how animals in City Hall would take him seriously. However, his supporters, mostly young female prey, and some predators but mostly prey, did not concern about his name too much. They were here at the parade as well. Their hands were waving banners with his name plastered on it. Along with it were something like “changing time”, and all that optimistic buzzwords. The females all shouted his name at such a loud and high pitch, that it was borderline shrieking. Scratch that, it was full on shrieking.

  
The one standing on the float’s podium was an ashen colored rabbit, wearing a fine black suit and blue tie. His eyes sparked what appeared to be hope. If what they said about the eyes being the window of the soul is true, you could see a deep blue sea of ideal in those eyes. The females swooned as his smile flashed toward them. Soon the females’ borderline screeching died down, probably because they all had fallen down. Then, the sound of booing could be heard, somewhere. Most of these noises were made from the elderly among the crowds; along with a few other mammals. These animals probably believed that the mayor was nothing but a pretty face. They had that from all the attack ads during the election. The message of, “Thumper is not ready” seemed to drill into their view of him. Despite a few less than positive response, the rabbit kept on waving and maintaining an optimistic smile.

  
Behind his float was the ZPD’s, which was surrounded by the larger officers. The float was a strategic placement to ensure the new mayor’s safety. Those on the float, who got to do all the parade routine were: the chef (no surprise) and the city’s heroes: Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde.

  
Nick’s smug expression drew across his face. He said, “Man, I can definitely get used to doing this.”  
Judy slowly leaned to his direction, she responded through her smile, “Doon’t bhe.” She turned to a different direction and said in a normal tone. “The hero title is not going to stick around for long.”  
The chef looked down. “Hey, you love birds. Stop what you are doing.” His head quickly resumed its original location, allowing his eyes to return to the spectators. The buffalo then whispered, “Just smile and wave.”The music went on and so were the floats.

  
After half an hour of marching, a mysterious float took the title of ‘the last float’ away from the Jensin’s foundation. It was an insignificant company I might add. Back to the mysterious float, this one was made to look like a moving savanna. It resembled the original land where Zootopia was built upon. It had a small mountain in the back and two baobab trees in the front.

  
“Hum, well, that’s new,” said the news reporter as she checking the schedule on her smartphone. The sides of the floats opened up, allowing two set of speakers to be seen. With these, the mysterious float blasted a song. The first minutes of it were what one would expect from parade music: fast, loud and energetic melody with the heavy used of drums. However, as the beats go on, sounds of what could be described as lunatic moaning mixed in. The spectators from both sides of the street stopped waving their flags. The smile on their faces deteriorated as the incoherent moaning got louder and louder. The town had become the song of a demented theme park. As the spectators began to feel that something was wrong, the lyrics of the song kicked in.

  
“Electric soul in my heart  
Street filled with fume, burn rubber, blood and chemical  
Behold a parody of a utopia  
A sparkling street of consumers and summer blockbusters

Social anxiety is a joke, La Vie en Rose is on billboard  
They say: “You are happy, don’t deny.”

Ignorant is automatically repackaged  
By machines powered by broken visions and dreams  
Fake sweeteners greased the gears  
Pouring money into chambers of mega churches

The future is for investors, the rest has to wait in line  
Forget that and dance along to the pop song Déjà vu

Now it is coming for you, eating away your façade  
The parade of terror is coming, and it is in your name

The radio becomes a droning voice  
Concealing the homeless street that sells rhinestone smiles  
Behold a parody of a utopia  
Rely on computer algorithms that determine one’s worth

Shouting “HAI HO”, and forget who pull the strings  
You can no long cut it, so don’t bother trying

Now it is coming for you, eating away your morals  
The parade of terror is coming, and it is in your name

Your shadows shall change shapes; your hands will touch the ground  
The parade of lunacy is coming, and it is in your name”

  
The song repeated its instrumental and moaning intro one more time then shut off completely. Its absent drew the spectators’ attention to the float. Conveniently, the float stopped advancing. A compartment hidden in the fake mountain opened up. From within, mechanical parts screeched as they lifted a pedestal and an animal up. That allowed the world to see who was piloting the float. He was a silver gray snow lynx. On him was what appeared to be a faded military officer trench coat. It was a rather old and somewhat battered coat, indicated by the worn white marks and dashes of explosion char. In his right hand was a cane with pieces of machines strapped on it. The state of his face fur suggested that he was way pass sixty. Yet, his posture and body build suggested that he was much sturdier than animals of his age.  
The back of his head was bald, but not because of how long he had spent on the Earth. It was shaven clean. A clear effort to expose what appeared to be long bulging scars. There were only three of them, all placed in random order. Signs of messy operations and clumsy stitches were lying around them. It took the spectators a while to realize that he had a prosthetic left leg. Started from his knee to toe was a curious limb chalk full of hydraulics, cogs, and springs. All were clinging on a metal skeleton frame. He stretched his lips, allowed a smile full of malice to shine through. With everyone demanded an answer in silence, the lynx put his smile away and picked up a megaphone.

  
During the time for him to prep up the megaphone properly, the ZPD’s float stopped. The parade in front of them seemed to stop as well. Nick turned to Judy, “What’s going on? Why did we stop?”  
Judy tried to reach her head out, finding a way to look behind their float. She could not see anything thing else, but floats on a stand still. “I don’t know,” she said. “Chef?”  
“You are asking the wrong mammal, Hopps.” He said as he desperately trying to have a look around.

  
However, they did not have to worry about missing anything. The ZNN’s live cameras were about to fix it for them. The giant TV screen installed on a building near them changed. The transmission of the mayor’s float transformed to the lynx’s. Seeing how the cameras were looking at him, the lynx turned to their general direction and spoke. His voice sounded like any Zootopian, but a hint of foreign accent reared its head in from time to times. “Testing, one, two, three. Have I got your attention?” The animals just turned their heads. All looking at each other, confused chatters emitted from the crowd. “I’ll take that, as a yes.” He slammed his cane down. “Don’t you worry, I’m not here to protest or ruin your parade in any shape for form. Why would I want to stop your celebration? Your feeble attempt at covering atrocities with a rosy tint?” A grin cracked on his face. “Nah, I’m just here to make the parade a bit more, wild.”

“What the hell is he talking about?”

“I don’t know.”

Similar responses came from the crowd.

“How am I going to do that you may ask? By fixing the things that ail this city, and our world.” He continued speaking through the megaphone. “Corruption, justice, greed, generosity, prejudice, acceptance, hedonism, restraint, false morality, ethic, and values. Why do you ‘civilize’ animals try so hard to make your lives miserable with these murky concepts? Why don’t you just let Mother Nature decide? Wouldn’t it be better that way?” He pressed a button on his cane. The baobab trees exploded into confetti. The sudden explosion made the spectators jumped a bit, but they soon reassured themselves. Telling their children and themselves, “It is an act” (a bad taste one that was). Nevertheless, that thought was thrown right out the window the moment all the confetti fell to the ground. “After today, all of you will be wild.” The spectators could finally see what was hidden within the fake trees. “After today, all of you will be true.” They were two multi-barrels machine guns. “And after today, all of you, will be free.” With the help from a pair of elaborate machines, the guns then pointed at the spectators. “The parade of savagery is coming, and it is in your name.” He let out a laugh that oozed pure, concentrated mania.

  
The weapons prepped up their laser sights. The beams aimed at a specific mammal on both sides of the street. The barrels started spinning, spitting out pellets that left behind dark blue spots on the fur of the two spectators. The two thin red beams moved from mammal to mammal at blinding speed, adding the blue color to the others. The spectators started screaming while those who had been hit just dropped on their knees and gagged. The blue spots soon vaporized, turning into haze of the same color. The mammal sniffed it out of panic. The sweet smell of flowers mixed in with chemical blinded their judgments. It convinced their brains starting to turn off some functions, allowing more primal instincts to take over. Soon, the predators started snarling and growling while the prey just fled the scene. All were on four, just like any old animals from millennium past.

  
The lynx tossed the cane and reach down for what looked like a machine crossbow. It had a compartment filled with military standard Taser arrows. Strapped on its side were two traditional arrows. Each could pierce the heart of a rabbit and pin said rabbit to a wall. He inhaled some of the blue fume before shouted, “It’s a SHOWTIME!” He pressed a button on the crossbow, allowing it to auto load the first arrow.

* * *

Author note:  
Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me the motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to update these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is one of my first stories so please forgive possible mistakes in the future and help me fix them.  
Thanks again and have a pleasant day.

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

Disclaimer:

The following is a fan-based fiction.  Zootopia and its characters are owned by Disney. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artists as well.

* * *

 

(The song Parade by Susumu Hirasawa begins to play)

Chesterization proudly presents

A Zootopia fanfiction

**Parade of Savagery**

 (Song ends)

  
**Chapter 2: Technical difficulties**

The lynx was surrounded thick midst of blue haze, roars, and terrified screaming. Yet, he pulled out a peculiar whistle from the pocket of his slacks in a relaxed manner. He winced and cupped one of his ears. Anticipation for a painful, high-pitched sound rose within him.  He blew it. The object made a loud shriek of some kind of deformed elephant, moments before its sudden death by dropping from a plane at 50000 feet. The metal shriek made the turned predators around him held their heads with their front paws. Some even rubbed their ears on the road, hoping that the pain from frictions took away the noise. The lynx stopped at the five seconds mark. That was as far as he could go without the desire to rip his ear off. A missing ear would definitely prove troublesome to his objectives for that day.

(The song Come with me now by the KONGOS begins to play)

The lynx tossed the whistle like a disposable straw. He looked at the savage beasts. It took them awhile to recover from the audio assault. Once they did, their eyes were on the nameless float. They knew who had created the dreaded sound and they were ready to bite and chew him off for it. The lynx just let out a smirk and taunted them. “That’s right, come, tear me apart.” One predator, another lynx pounced on the float. It attempted to slash him with its claw. The lynx shot the first arrow at one of his kind. The arrow’s dull forked-head pierced the skin of the savage beast. The force behind it pushed the turned predator back. The other lynx’s fur fluffed up once the stored electricity start running wild. The shock made the mammal’s shake in a violent fashion. Vibrating, moving side to side, dancing to the melody of its own incoherent growling. The lynx behind the attack then jumped backward, getting himself off the float. The other predators, without hesitation, chased after him.

The ZPD was rushing to the back of the parade. All had their weapons (tranquilizers and Tasers) ready. The officers could not believe what they were seeing. A lynx with a machine crossbow and a prosthetic leg was charging toward them. And a pack of predators followed him like his personal battle pets. Just to add something to the spectacle, the mysterious float blew up. The bang was so loud that even Judy could hear it. The police officers stopped advancing when that happened. One of them started to question whether they had stepped into a Jack Savage movie set. That officer got his answer in the form of a shock arrow to the face.

The lynx’s prosthetic leg, despite its crude structure, possessed almost the same level of dexterity and agility as his right. It allowed him to sprint long distances, jump on a car then jumped over a charging elephant officer and even kick a zebra in the torso at one point. The officers did not just stand there and suffer the assault. Even if it came from a strange lynx with his marvelous contraptions. They did retaliate with everything they got. At least six of them tried to take him down with their Taser guns. Yet, something under his clothing made sure that none of the shocks had any effect. Even better for the lynx, none of the officers was fast enough or attempted to hit him in the neck, foot, or face. Every time they tried to tase him, he just yanked the probes off by the wires. He then either punched or incapacitated them with his arrows. Others tried using their tranquilizers, but that did not work either. After passing by two building blocks, he had gathered five darts on his torso and a few on his leg and arms. Still, the lynx was heading toward the mayor’s float at a steadfast rate. After a while, he did not bother wasting his arrows, for he already had his battle pets keeping the ZPD occupied.

The dirty sound of flesh being bitten down, claws swiping on bones, throat crushing, darts flinging, trigger pulling, beast roaring, frequent swearing, calling of one’s mother, panic-inducing commands such as: “Get them off me!”; “Backup! I need backup!”; “God, do something!”, death gargles were behind him. The lynx would not dare look back. He had a good idea already. Just as the other officers were rushing to the scene, the lynx hopped on a random float. He then traversed by jumping from float to float. Some officers caught a glance of him. But, their colleagues’ scream of distress had put the savage predators at top priority. To the officers at the time, he was much less dangerous because he was not biting down on anyone.

However, that apathy did not last long. He stopped and jumped down from the float behind the ZPD’s. The remaining police forces had gathered near it and formed into a wall. Their chief was at the center of it. In their hands were batons. They did not say a word. Their slow but steady advancement toward him had conveyed a clear message. No matter how sophisticated his little contraption was, could not take them all down. What the ZPD had not predicted, was that the lynx had anticipated such situations.

The lynx, still with a smirk on his face, he dropped his crossbow. He quickly used one hand to open up his coat. The other reached inside and pulled out a tennis-sized crystal ball. The thing contained a deep blue and thick liquid. “Grenade!” the lynx yelled before throwing it at chief Bogo. His throw, backed up by years of experience hit Bogo death on. The ball shattered once it touched the buffalo’s horns. The blue liquid dripped down the chief’s face. It smelled like paint, Bogo thought. The liquid started to vaporize. That was when the officers around him broke the formation. They fanned out, making sure that none of the chemicals got in their noses. Once that was made cleared, they held their breath and immediately ganged up on the chief. They started whacking him with their batons. As if they were a pack of wild predators taking down much a bigger prey. The chief did not go down easily. Like a prey fighting for his life, he struggled with all of his exertions. He tried to scream "Stop", but the overwhelming force prevented him from doing so.

With the commotion going on, the lynx just slipped by, his crossbow in hand. “Thanks, good boys and girls.” He whispered. A few seconds later, he reached the mayor’s float.

(Song ends)

With everything was behind him, he had a look back. The beating was still going on. “That’s one tough son of a bitch.” He muttered. The screaming from the distance persisted. The savage predators were not under control, it seemed. Soon the wave of predators should catch up, so he would not have to worry about the police. He took cover beside the mayor’s float and had one look at the street. It was a borderline ghost town. Hard to believe that a few minutes ago, there were thousands of animals here. Now, only colorful trash, banners of lofty ideals, and empty float remained. With the coast cleared, for the time being, he caught his breath. He had gone quite far and his body had not broken down. “Ha, years of CrossFit finally pay off.” He could not help but pulled his head back and laughed; feeling satisfied in his own strength. However, just when he was about the end his mid-celebration, his old nemesis struck back.

“Argh, spoke too soon, oh God! Damn it!” He clawed parts of his back, in the area near the spine. Things under his skin were moving just fine a few moments ago, but now, they stiffened and ached. He tried to ease the pain by gently punching it. It did not work out. The lynx let out a drawn out sigh. Admitted that no matter how hard he tried, he could never outrun his age. Once feeling like moving again, he climbed on the Mayor’s float. No surprise, no one was there.

He moved toward the podium. His nose was sniffing. It picked up a scent. Something that should be sweet smelling to certain mammals, but to the lynx, it was disgusting. He did not care much about the smell. It was strong, trackable, and belonged to Mark, only those matters. The scent pointed him to a small alleyway nearby, an obvious option. The lynx let out another smirk “Hum, there you are.” As he walked past the podium, his nose picked up a different scent, something more natural. “Wait the minutes”

Nick was hiding beside the podium, completely obscured from the lynx’s vision. However, he thought that it was time to get out. Nick got out from his cover. The fox tackled the lynx and pushed him with all his strength. The surprise hit forced the big cat to lose his balance and fell down from the float. Before he knew it, his back hit the hardened tar. The broad and intense pain pushed an “Argh, son of a bitch!” out of his mouth. The first thing Nick did was yanking the crossbow from the lynx’s grasp.  He tossed it away then reached for the handcuffs.

The lynx had other plans. He grabbed his fingers into a fist and launched a right hook to Nick’s jaw. The blow staggered Nick. In short an instance, his mind forgot what he was doing. The lynx grabbed Nick by his shirt. With Nick was only two third of his body, the lynx tossed him to the side like a stuffed toy with little effort. Nick crashed on the road. His head was still dazed by the first blow.

With a series of painful grunts and frustrated curses, the lynx struggled to sit up. His back was on fire and his flesh was screaming to his brain. He slowly got himself back on his two feet, only to find Nick was doing the same. Though, the fox had a much easier time doing so. He walked toward Nick. His steps were wobbly and drunk. “Stop” He pointed at the fox, like a teacher talking to a troublesome student. And like most troublesome students, Nick did not listen. However, unlike most troublesome students, the fox sprinted for some quick momentum. The lynx was muttering “What the hell” under her his breath. Nick performed a bunny jump that sent a punch straight to the big cat’s face. The hit scored square on his left cheek. The bigger predator took a few steps back, holding his face. He could hear something ringing in his head. His tongue could taste iron and potentially shame.

After his feet had touched the ground, Nick did not let up with his assault. He was constantly sending upward punches to the lynx’s torso. His fists felt like hitting a slab of thick flesh in every hit. That was not what Nick expected from an animal of his age. He kept punching, tried to remind himself of Judy’s words during training. He forgot what they were, for his brain was too busy focusing on bashing this lynx.

However, his barrage could not last long. The lynx parried Nick’s strike with a swipe of his left arm. He grabbed the fox’s follow up punch with his other hand. “You fight like a rabbit.” He spat some of his blood while saying that. His left hand grabbed Nick by the neck. He started choking the fox, forcing Nick to release his fist. His hands relocated to the area around his neck. They were desperately trying to claw the lynx’s fingers out. The lynx used his remaining hand to increase the pressure behind the vice. ”And punch like one too.” He said, before pulling Nick close for a head butt. Nick heard a hard to describe thump.

Nick’s experience of the impact was not a pleasant one. He could now imagine what it was like being used as a stick to whack a frozen watermelon. This time, his mind went completely blank for seven solid seconds. He did not even hear the sound of the second crash. Once his mind had ‘rebooted’, his nose started to burn. His whiskers could even feel something dripping. The lynx panted while holding on to his head. He said through his teeth. “Next time, listen to your elders”, before waddling toward the crossbow.

He picked it up and dusted it. He approached Nick and kneeled down. His hand flipped a switch. That ejected a pre-loaded Tesla arrow. He caught it and immediately stabbed it in Nick’s thigh. The arrow let out its charge and made the fox perform the same song and dance as his colleagues. “Just to be sure.” The lynx whispered before Nick fell unconscious. The lynx made his way toward the alleyway. He took the traditional arrow from the side and loaded it in.

At a corner of the alleyway, Judy was standing next to the newly elected mayor. Both were panting. The mayor looked concerned. Judy, on the other hand, was trying to suppress her anxiety with stern concentration. The mayor said, “Officer Hopps, I appreciate your dedication, but-“

Judy interrupted that with a firm “No! I’m here to protect you and that’s that.”

“You cannot go against him, it’s too dangerous. It’s better to give him what he wants.”

“Don’t worry, sir. I will not let that happen. Just seek cover.” The conversation ended with the sound of footsteps from afar.

The smell of leftover rainwater from the night before mixed in with the typical stench of most alleyways did not deter the predator’s sense of smell. He screamed, “I can smell your cheap cologne, Thumper!” The lynx noticed a small rustling sound at the end of the alleyway. He extended his claws and let them touched the wall. As he moved, his claws dug into the brick. The sound of cracked brick filled the space as white dust dropped to the ground. “There’s no use in hiding!” He dragged his hand that way until his claw hit a nail. “Argh. Damn it! Fractured my claw!” He reeled his hand back and shook it. He cursed a name under his breath. It was hard to tell if that was Nick’s or the Mayor’s.

After he had directed his attention away from his hand, he saw Judy, standing at the end of the alleyway. She was taking a firm stance. Her hands held a Taser gun. The lynx’s ears and eyebrows perked up. “Oh, what do we have here?” he moved forward. His steps were short and slow. “Are you threatening me with that? Hehehe.” With open arms, he said. “Come on, use your head. Your friends have hit me with ten millions of those. What makes your so special?” Judy held her ground. She must not back down. Not when the Mayor and the city were relying on her. “Ah, I know you. You are Hopps.” He snickered again. “You do know that you are the hero, because of pure luck, right? You have no merit to be here, my dear. And I’m sure as hell a little runt likes you, stand no chance.” He properly held his crossbow.

Judy closed her eyes. She took a deep breath before saying, “Don’t tell me-“

His head tilted slightly, his tone turned patronizing. “Aw, isn’t that cute? The precious little thing thought she could take on the big bad predator.”

That word still got to her, “STOP!”

“RAH!” He let out a mock roar that flashed all of his fangs. The unexpected noise made Judy’s back jumped. She could feel her hair on the back of her head standing up, her mind on edge. Her grip on the gun got stronger, but her aim control was getting weaker. She was struggling to keep the crosshair straight on the target.

The lynx grinned from ear to ear, “Well, this is just perfect.” He lowered his crossbow. “I’m a merciful predator, so I’ll give you a choice.” He took the other arrow out. “I have two arrows to skew exactly two rabbits.” He showed her the arrow. Just to prove how sharp the tip was, he made his forearm bleed with just a slight touch. “But, whether I would save one today, is up to you.” He put the arrow in his coat’s pocket. “I’ll give you one chance to walk away, run, flee, or whatever. Just get out of my way. No one’s here to witness you doing that, so, no worries.” He let out a sinister smile and a wink. “I let them know that you, quote unquote, did your best. Or I could keep my mouth shut.”

He walked closer and closer. The air around Judy was getting colder. Yet her back was still sweating. “Be sensible here, even if you manage to waste my arrow, I would still find him. The result would be the same. The only different is both he and you are out of the picture.” He dragged his finger across his neck. He closed his left eye and pierce into her soul with his right. “Is it really worth dying for? What would your fox friend say? You dragged him into this life. Are you going to leave him behind?”

The line made Judy hesitate.  _“What about Nick?”_ He would have been just fine, simply by being a con artist (oh, I am sorry, entrepreneur) for the rest of his life. She was the one that barged into his life. She pulled him into her little investigation, just to prove herself. She endangered both of their lives multiple times in the process. He still stayed with her even after everything. Now, she was staring death in the face. If she died that mean, he would be all alone. Her mind immediately shut those thoughts off.  _“You have a plan, and it’s going to work”,_  she said to herself.  _“What if it doesn’t?”_

The lynx was a few meters away now. “I can hear your heart Hopps, it’s telling you to run. Your instincts have primed you to flee even before I started talking. So, just, do, it.” With a gesture of a dignified waiter, he offered her the way out. She stood still, looking at the exit he had presented. Her feet were itching for a sprint. She denied them of such pleasure.

He shook his head. “You have made your choice. Now, you have to live with it, or not.” He then took aim at her. “Next choice, through the brain, or the heart?” He gave her a good twenty seconds before. “Hum, silence. With you standing before me, I’ll go with the heart. Because obviously, there is nothing, within that skull. How typical.”

Judy tried her best to maintain her composure. “You have the right to remain-”

He burst out laughing, “Hahahahaha, bye bye, silly rabbit.”

“Stop!” The mayor’s voice entered the scene.

The lynx looked at the corner. He saw the ashen bunny, standing with his arms held up. “Aw come on, stop interrupting my moments”

“Mayor Thumper!”

“Pf, hahaha, dear lord, your ancestor sure know how to pick a name.” He then immediately tried to reclaim his seriousness. He reminded himself that he was supposed to be threatening during this whole ordeal. “Ehem. I’m sorry, Mayor. As much as I wish to oblige, you need to respect the lady. She chose this.” He aimed the crossbow at her chest. “Don’t worry, though, you’ll get yours, eventually.” His hand left the trigger guard.

The Mayor screamed. “No!”

Judy aimed her Taser gun downward. That made the lynx stopped and thought for a moment. He had a glance down and saw what she was aiming at. He was too busy approaching her and playing his little game that he forgot. The whole time, his bare feet were surrounded by a huge puddle of leftover rainwater. Soon, he saw the two Taser’s probe launched into the puddle. The electrical sparks danced across the water surface. The shock stunned and made him dropped the crossbow. At least, the shock numbed and reduced his back pain to the point that he could not feel anything anymore. His body wished to perform the same dance as the officers, but his resolve said “No”. He got on his knees but soon stood up and moved forward. His claws struck out. His teeth bit down hard. “Argh, aren’t you the, argh, the clever, one? You silly prey, I survived, argh, ten years of shock collars, you’ll need, more than that to take me down!” Kain should have picked better words. Because the definition of more was as simple as another trigger pull from Judy. The double shock managed to knock him out afterward.

A few hours later

Nick woke up. The first thing he noticed was the plain white ceiling and the stinging sheet. Yup, he was at a hospital. He could not smell anything and his nose hurt like there was no tomorrow. Nevertheless, since he was in a hospital, Nick expected the place to smell like sterilized air. The smell he was not a fan of. He had a look around. Judy was in the room. The bunny was sitting on the chair. Something big must have happened while he was out of commission. She was sleeping with her ears and head drooped down. Completely exhausted. With daylight still outside, he could rule out the possibility that she had been here for a long time. He smiled. The way her ears let loose and covered the top of her head was somehow endearing to him.

The tube was on, showing the latest news. Or Nick from times to times put it, “whatever was wrong with the world mixed in with cute videos of cubs doing something silly”. Nick woke up a bit too late. He missed the morning incident’s injuries and casualties count. The moose news anchor continued the report. “The city’s hero, Judy Hopps has proven herself once again. Thanks to her valiant effort, the culprit behind the savage attack at the parade was captured.

Hearing so brought him relief and a sense of awe.  _“Way the go Carrot! Saved the day once again.”_  He even felt a bit jealous. She took down a predator that was twice or even triple her size, while he was here, all battered up after a few punches and a head butt.

The news continued, “The police identified him as Gunther Soc-so, soch, how do you pronounce that?” There was a pause. “I see. Sorry, Gunther Schoche Kain, a former professor at the University of Zootopia. Here is some footage of UfZ students expressing their disbelief.” The image on the screen changed to a campus ground. A horse wearing an UfZ hoody was at the center of the screen. He said in the stereotypical college frat boy’s voice. “Dude, it’s messed up, bro. I don’t think prof would do things like that. A few days ago, we still see him at the recreation gym. The guy looks happy as ever. Here, look at this.” He shoved his smartphone at the screen. It was a selfie of a group of animal. The lynx was at the left side of it. He bore a smile that made him popular with the university students: genuine and playful. The horse continued, “Does he looks like a guy that would crossbow your *bleep*? No way, man. No *bleep* way.”

“What the hell?” Nick whispered.

The screen changed to a rabbit. His face was dampened with camera shyness, but he toughed it up and said, “I think there are more to this. Sure, he is somewhat cynical and mean at times, but, deep down he is a good animal.” He paused for a moment, one of his eyes tried to shut itself. Before a tear could come out, he said. “I wouldn’t be here without him.” He took a deep breath. “Professor, if you are listening, it’s me, Michael, please, this, is not you.”

The screen changed back to the moose. “Heartbreaking. The ZPD has contained those who went savage. It appears that the old antidote formula no longer seems to work. They are also investigating Gunther’s motives as we speak. And now for the weather.”

At the Zootopia Penitentiary, within an interrogation room

Kain was sitting in a wheelchair. His hands chained up and his prosthetic leg removed. He reached out and put his hands on a metal table. His fingers knitted together into a pyramid. Someone stepped in. Kain smiled and gave him a warm welcome. “Ah, chef Bogo, it’s a pleasure to you again.” The chief, covered in bandages and bruises, was not amused.

The chief took a seat. “I’ll do this quick, for the two us.”

“Whatever makes you comfortable,” Kain said as if he owned the room.

“You are immune to the new Night Howlers serum. How?”

The lynx shrugged. “I don’t know. I have a Ph.D. in Political Science, not Chemistry nor Biology. Ask somebody else.”  Bogo slammed his fist on the table. Kain continued. “Just relax. Seeing how well you punched that table, that means you had recovered. It brings me relief.”

Bogo glared at him. “What are you playing? Kain?”

Kain just shook his head. “There is no game, chief, just me worrying about you. Being betrayed is the worst feeling in the world.” The lynx looked at the one-way mirror, which to him was just a mirror. He wondered who was watching and most important of all, listening. Kain then looked down at the stump of his leg. “It’s like losing your leg to a land mine, after being promised, there won’t be no more land mine. It’s strangely harsh and empty.”

The chief pointed at him. “Don’t give me that mind game. They didn’t betray me. It was ink. You tricked them.”

Kain pointed his finger upward. “Ah, that’s the point, Bogo. They, didn’t, know. They didn’t talk nor reason with you. They just took you down.” Bogo lowered his finger. “I don’t blame them, it’s a sound enthymeme. They saw me, on the screen, turned mammals savage with blue stuff, blue stuff hits you. The conclusion: you will turn savage.” He shook his head. “They, like you, are just, animals. Instinct dominates all. “

The chief slammed his fist on the table, harder this time. The lynx was unfazed. He instead showed teeth with his smile. “What are your motives?” Bogo asked.

Kain looked upward. “Motives, hehe, what do you think they are?”

Chief stopped for a moment to think. What this lynx was doing was the textbook definition of terrorism. However, what were his drives? He was using the Night Howler and considering he did use “prejudice” during his speech. The chief said, “Racial-”

Kain imitated a ‘wrong answer’ buzz on game shows then said, “Wrong, hehe”. The chief glared at his attitude. Kain continued, “Why is everything has to come down to race around these parts? Can’t I just be an old coot, who wishes to see the world turn to ashes? And live with the knowledge that I have lit the first flame?” He then shrugged. “I mean, I took down animals equally, unlike you at the ZPD.”

Bogo was losing his patience. “What are you planning then?” he said through his teeth.

“Planning? It had already been done. And why should I tell you? It’s like giving away spoiler before the first act of a story.”

“I have no time for this. Then what are you doing then?”

Kain shook his head, “Nothing, I’ll be here, like a good prisoner, admitting defeat.” He leaned back in his wheelchair, his leg on the table.

That answer washed away Bogo’s anger with a wave of confusion. “Oh, are you quite all right?”

Kain put his hands behind his head. “I’m not and so are you.” He changed his smile to a contempt grin. “But, I wish to make some demands.”

Bogo frowned at the thought, “Demands?”

“I want my trench coat, delivered to my cell tomorrow, by you.”

Bogo could not help but let out a snicker. “Pf, You amuse me, Kain” However, the chief switched back to his hard as steel tone “tell me, why should I?”

Kain sighed. “Despite the technical difficulties, I’m afraid. The parade will and must go on, even without me.”

“The parade? You stopped it, remember.”

“No, not that one. This one, Bogo, my boy.” His hands left his head, allowing him to point at the chief. “you’ll be a star and not the backdrop for two rookies that got lucky.”

Before the chief could ask a follow-up question, Kain said, “What time is it?” He sat upright in the wheelchair and had a quick glance at the chief’s wristwatch. “Hum, five in the afternoon, if my calculations are correct.” He winked “which they usually are, you should check the news, in the next 30 minutes.” Kain yawned. “I’m tired now. Tomorrow, when you deliver my coat, I will tell you the rest of my demands.” He put his arms on the table. Just like that, he rested his head on them.

“Hey, what are you.”

“I’m old, I prefer to sleep early.” That was a bald-faced lie. The special chemical within his body was wearing off. It could no longer protect him from the tranquilizer that he had been taken doing the attack. He then snored and slept like a log. No matter how hard the wardens tried, they could not wake him up. This prompted the chief to end the interrogation section early. His mind was wondering what Kain meant by him being the star.

30 minutes later

“This just in, another savage attack has just occurred. Reports say that there was only one mammal affected by the Night howler. 29-year-old deer, Martin Santos. Fortunately, only there were injured but…”

* * *

 

Author note:

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me the motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to update these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is one of my first stories so please forgive possible mistakes in the future and help me fix them.

Thanks again and have a pleasant day.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer:

The following is a fan-based fiction.  Zootopia and its characters are owned by Disney. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artists as well.

* * *

 

(The song Parade by Susumu Hirasawa begins to play)

Chesterization proudly presents

A Zootopia fanfiction

**Parade of savagery**

 (Song ends)

**Chapter 3:  Interrogation**

A few hours until noon

Nick walked out of the hospital. He had already dressed up in uniform. The bandages on his face and snout could not hide away his usual laid-back attitude. Lucky for him, the stitches within his nose were going to make it hard for him to talk and breath.

Judy was behind him. Her eyes and tips of her ears pointed in one direction, down. After rehearsing her thoughts six times, she said, “Nick, you don’t have to go to work right away.”

The fox turned around then walked backward. “What are you talking about, Carrot? Don’t think your partner can deal with a few hits from some, senile predator?"

There was that defiant grin again. Judy was starting to get used to seeing it. The smile that said: _“I’ll jump into a shark tank with a bleeding nose just to fish you out of it.”_

“No, just,” She tried to come up with some form of excuse. Something justified worrying about him for no particular reason. Her mind played back a line from Kain: _“You dragged him into this.”_

Before she could spur out some random word, the fox ran toward their patrolling car. “Come on, Carrot. The world is not going to-” 

His word of encouragement for the day was interrupted by an emergency message from the ZPD operator. Judy took out the radio and had a listen. “Calling all units on this frequency. The Chief said there has been an emergency at the Zootopia Penitentiary. Require immediate assistance.”

An hour before Nick’s departure from the hospital

Kain was lying on the bed in his cell. In his hand was the book 1985 by George Ocelot. It was astonishing for him to see a library within this prison. It was empty and dusty beyond believe, but it was there, unlike thirty years ago. This particular discovery granted him great solace. As he was about to finish the novel for the seventeenth time in his life, someone knocked the glass wall on his cell. The lynx took his eyes off the pages.

His prediction had come true. “Hello, Chief Bogo, lovely day, isn’t it?” he said, with a smile. If he had not been responsible for the death of so many mammals, that smile would have been endearing. The Chief opened the cell door. Followed him was a wolf warden, pushing a wheelchair. Bogo handed Kain the military officer trench coat. “I brought you your coat, as promise.” He kept a strict voice, an attempt to cover his shame.

Kain raised his tone. “Don’t you lie to me. You did not promise, anything.” He flipped his voice back to the cheerful tone on a whim. “But I appreciate the effort.” He took the coat and immediately put it on. It was as clean as it could be. “Aw, lovely. Your hands might be dirty, but you have one hell of a dry cleaning service.” He put it on then had a quick sniff at the sleeve. It smelt like lavender. “How sad, you got rid of the explosive smell.” He then shrugged and signaled the warden to push the wheelchair a little closer. Despite him being the prisoner, the warden obliged the lynx’s request. “Oh well, no matter, small sacrifices.” With some difficulty, Kain managed to get himself on the chair. “Next time, give me a pair of crutches. I can walk on my own.”

“Acknowledged” Bogo pressed his finger against Kain’s chest. “We give you what you want, now-”

Kain raised his hands in surrender, “I know, take me back to the interrogation room. Then I’ll tell.”

With care, the warden pushed the chair and got Kain outside of the cell. The other inmates watched in awe and jealousy.

A few minutes later

Bogo and Kain were back to the interrogate room. The chief started the conversation. “What are your demands?”

Kain rested his chin on his right hand. “I’ll give you a chance to guess.” He struck his index finger. “Here is a hint. It’s something everyone wants and needs.”

_“This crap again.”_ Bogo thought. He tried his best to restrain himself and play along. “Money?”

Kain shook his head. “Try again.”

“Female”

“Please, try again.” For some strange reasons, this lynx was starting to remind Bogo of his primary schools days. What nasty times they were.

With some hesitation, the chief whispered. “Male?”

Kain just slapped his face with his palm. “Eh, no" the lynx then recoiled, "and by God!” His hand departed from his face. “Is your idea of a demand that simple?”

Bogo pressed his finger against the table. “Then stop playing games and tell me what you want.”

Kain leaned back. His hand clasped together. “Conversations.”

Bogo tilted his head. “Conversations?”

“Yes, I want to speak with each and every one of your officers.”

“Why do you want to speak with my mammals?”

He gave the Chief a sideway glance. “Does it really matter, Bogo?” He then sat upright. “Just remember this. Should I am pleased with the quality of the conversations, I’ll give them a code.”

“A code?”

Kain put his chin up. “Yes, I have anticipated the possibility of me getting caught. So I and my associate created these codes. Bargaining chips, which I am using right now.” He announced with pride.

Bogo raised his volume. “How is that going to stop the attack? Quick beating around the bushes and tell me!”

Kain wagged his index finger. “Patient now. You just need to broadcast these codes around the city, and my associate will get it. Once she did, she will make sure that there won’t be any savage attack, for three days.” He flashed three fingers to Bogo.

The chief grabbed his fist. He kept an immense pressure on it, preventing his impulses to punch the lynx. He said through his teeth. “You”

A taunting smile flashed across his face. “Why so angry? I mean, it’s not like I’m going anywhere.” He looked at the one-way mirror. “Besides, this is your chance.”

“My chance? For what exactly?”

Kain returned to Bogo. “Well, not you. I meant the ZPD. This is your chance for you to, ‘protect’ your precious city.” With open arms, he said. “Show me, no us, that this parody of a utopia is worth keeping. Only then, we shall stop the parade.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“That is COORRECT!” Kain snapped his fingers. “I’ve never taken anything serious in my life. But, the facts still stand. Talk to me, and I might change my mind.”

Half an hour later, all ZPD officers who were not on patrol were at the Zootopia penitentiary. Their number was rather small. Yet, lucky enough, the city’s heroes were there. After the chief had told them what was going on and what he wanted them to do, the force said. “He can’t be serious!”

“That’s what I said, but,” The Chief pressed on his temple. “Have any of you find any clue yet? Regarding the aftermath attack or anything for that matter.”

A zebra officer said. “No sir.”

An elephant interrupted. “Well actually we do have some clues, but”

“But what, Francine?”

“They are not helpful.”

“Give me whatever you got. I just need something to hold on to here.”

The elephant continued, “The attack on Santos left no trace behind. There was no sign of a break-in. The victims said he was in the house with them when that happened.”

Her partner, a tiger jumped in. “The window was open, but, they live on the 9th floor of an apartment building. Should the culprit climb all that, it would be impossible for him to slip by.”

The Chief said, “Her.”

The tiger stopped. “What sir?”

“Kain said his “associate” is behind all this. He said that’s a she.”

“Well, that narrows it down to half of the city,” Nick said.

Bogo glared at him. “I have no time for your witty remarks Wilde.”

Nick responded accordingly with a salute. Judy nudged him.

The hippo deputy said, “Regardless, how did she do it?”

A sheep said, “She could be a bat. It wouldn’t be that hard to fly and dart someone.”

The majority of the officer nodded their heads. Some whispered “Yeah, right”.

Seeing where that was going, Judy intervened immediately. “You do realize that’s a blind assumption right? We shouldn’t rely on those. It’ll get ugly if we do.”

Nick looked down. He would say he was proud of her for saying so. However, knowing how strange and condescending that might sound, he remained quiet.

Bogo said, “Fair enough. Anything else on Kain’s attack at Main Street?”

The zebra said, “The hospital had just cleaned up the scene. We were about to perform an autopsy and investigate the area. That was when you called sir.”

The Chief crossed his arm. “If that is the case, then I apologize." He looked around at his mammals. "So we are still in the dark. For now, just play along and figure out his “code”. We need to buy some time.”

“Yes, sir.” The officers said.

Bogo sighed. “Why do all this have to happen to us?”

Judy said. “Chief, we will get through this.”

“Heh, I wish to believe that too, Hopps.”

A few minutes later, at the interrogation room

Kain remained in his wheelchair. His facial expression was consistent throughout the last twenty minutes. That expression was exhaustion. _“How long do I have to keep this up”,_ he thought. The zebra officer was the first to step in the interrogation room. The prey got to his respective seat and started the conversation with, “Hello”. Behind the one-way mirror, Bogo and the officers focused on Kain’s reactions.

Kain made a _‘Show me what you got’_ gesture and said, “Hello, and no pressure.”

The two of them unintentionally partook in a staring contest. They stopped when Kain lost the match. Like a poor sport that he always was, the lynx changed the subject. “Are you going to say something?” The zebra was quiet. His eyes were shifting back to the one-way mirror. As if, he was asking for help. Kain slapped the table and said. “You screwed it up, next.”

Francine entered the room. She gently moved toward her seat and sat down. Despite her size, she felt small in comparison to this lynx. Not because he was holding three days of grace for the city, but because of what had happened during the parade. The way this predator casually took down anything in his way was intimidating. Even she was powerless against him.

Her head played a memory. His Taser arrow had just paralyzed her. Her body could not move but she was still conscious. On that flat cold surface of the road, she was forced to see her colleagues, her friends, struggling to keep themselves and her alive. In the midst of the blood drench fangs and claws, some did not make it. The images of their last moments made it hard for her to start the conversation. She felt her gut coiled as she was about to say something.

Kain said, casual as always. “As much as I wish to let you relive your Hon Dao flashbacks, we are wasting time.” That snapped her back to reality. “I’ll start this time. Dear, do you believe in the Matrix?”

_“What kind of question was that”_ , she asked within her head. Francine then stuttered, “Eh, yes.” She needed to do whatever it took not to anger him.

Kain pointed at her. “If so then why are you here? Working as a police officer? Be a pawn. Have you ever thought of anything beyond what you see? Have you ever thought that all the lives you have ever interacted with are all an illusion and none of it matters? Have you ever thought that you are nothing but a vision?” His voice turned sinister.

“Eh, eh, I, know for a fact that.”

Kain put his hand up, silenced her. “It’s a series of rhetorical questions, dear. You don’t have to answer those." He reached his head to the side and yelled. "Next.”

Later, after dozens of failed interviewees, a lynx officer stepped in. She, unlike the previous candidate, greeted him with a smile. In return, Kain gave her his smile and a flirtatious tone. “Oh, hello.” He brushed the fur on his head.

She winked at him. What she was doing, it disgusted her. However, this was for the city. This was something much bigger than she was. Besides, Judy had saved the day one too many times. This was her chance. The other officers always belittle her because of her beauty, now she could show them. From the look of it, it was working. That gave her the confidence (and the strength not to hurl) that she needed. She took her seat, making eyes contact with him.

He started, “Does someone as lovely as you read?”

_“Perfect, any bimbo would fail this one, not me. Tamera. You got this in the bag.”_ She shouted in her mind. The female announced to him. “Yes, I proud to call myself a bibliophile. I have read at least 50 books.”

That statement made Kain’s heart did something strange. He had never specified what that was. Just, strange to him. “Marvelous, what sort of book did you read?”

She felt that she had hit the jackpot. This was her number one hobby. The rest should be easy. “Tons, I have read Blood moon Priestess, Shadow dancer, the Abyss sisters, Half Wolves, Dark Seed-" She went on and on, listing more and more of those ‘best sellers’ romantic novels.

Kain’s level of engagement plummeted to the point that rock bottom became the sky to him. He was hoping to hear something, different, just something, but no. When she reached the fiftieth book, his hope was dashed. Kain had and would always detest those kinds of novels. To him, they were more dangerous than animals not reading at all. Such literature only gives the illusion of reading and learning. He did make exceptions for some. Those used the manipulative medium to engage their readers with different ideas and philosophy. However, such books were few and far between. And this lynx had not read any of them.

“I have to stop you right there.” The officer stopped. She now took notice of his expression. It was a mixture of disappointment and anger. He closed his eyes and spoke in a gentle tone. “Out, just get out” He pointed his finger toward the door.

“But, but” She pleaded

He screamed, “DON’T EVER, EVER CALL YOURSELF A BIBLIOPHILE, EVER AGAIN. BY GOD!” He refilled his lungs, “read something with substance for once. Try, NON-FICTION and you will see how thick you are.” He pointed at his temple. “Dear Lord, GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!”

The lynx stepped out of the room. She did so as fast as she could. So fast, that no one could see her getting choked up.

A wolf officer shortly came in. By that time, Kain’s forehead had already pressed again the table. Once he heard the sound of her sitting down, he said, “What are your gimmicks?”

“I’m Noira, ZPD.”

His head was still on the table. “Great, fran, why are you here?”

“I’m here because you are a danger to the city. You make a mockery out of us all. I will not let you do that.”

“Hehehehe. Protect and serve huh?” He sighed. “If you don’t want to, then don’t force it. You tried, appreciate that, but no. Please leave.”

“I’m not going to let you-“

“Leave!”

“ARGH!” She punched the table. Expected the vibration to knock his head back up.  Some way to get a reaction out of this lynx. She stormed out of the room.

Only two officers remained and they stepped in the room. Kain heard a few jumping sound. That was new, at least to him. He lifted his head up and cracked a smile. “Aw, look at that, it’s the city’s heroes. The Token Troop.” His enthusiasm returned.

Judy kept her stern expression and so was Nick. She said, “Excuse me?”

“Don’t lie to yourself, look at you. You are a rabbit and he is a fox. One could barely tackle a cat and the other-” He stopped to look around then came close for a whisper, "he’s a fox.”

Nick said, “Hey, she’s a bunny that put you in jail. I wouldn’t be so cocky around her.”

Kain turned to Nick. “God damn foxes. Always have to ruin the mood.”  He shrugged. “So, why are there two of you?”

Judy said, “You did not say anything about this being one on one.”

“Ah, a dynamic duo huh?” He leaned back in his wheelchair. “The city heroes, and the jackholes that caught me. Hehehehe. Oh, this is going to be worthwhile.” Kain sprang up. “Okay, let’s start with you, fluff butt.” Judy remained calm and focused, while Nick was on the verge to bare his fangs. “Calm down, fox boy. No need to be so alarmed.” He snapped his finger, directed Judy’s attention to him. “Okay, rabbit, tell me, if you have to choose between the perfect dream or a less than perfect reality, which one?”

Judy crossed her arms. She answered it with a straight face. “A less than perfect reality, rollercoasters are better than any-” She was interrupted by a long and manic laugh.

“Hahahahahhahahahahahaha, oh my God! That is cute! Oh crap, my sides.” He started slapping the table while his other held on to his left side.

Nick was about to stand up. His fingers grabbed into a fist. Judy grabbed him by his arm, whispering, “Nick, no.”

Wiped a tear out of the corner of his eyes, the lynx continued. “Oh dear, are you truly that naïve?” Judy had gotten used to comments like that. They could no longer get to her. She kept her composure. “Honey, let’s get something clear. Rollercoasters are fun, they are thrilling, and I love them. I’m sure as hell they are not a metaphor for reality. Reality is a long and unending train ride that moved with the speed of a snail. Said train is filled with the heavy heat of seven billion animals, whose voices are just noise stuck on repeat. And the voice are always asking: “What about me?” That’s reality.” He pointed at her. “You failed, county bumpkin. You had the best shot, and you just blew it.”

“You. Fox boy, you are holding the key to saving the lives of a dozen of mammals. So you know, no pressure.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“What’s wrong? I just call you for what you are. You are thirty years apart from me, and you are a fox.” To Judy, Kain’s mannerism and expressions were mirroring those of Nick, moments after their first meeting. Nick was having memories of the same thing. However, now he could step into Judy’s shoes at that point. Nick was starting to avoid Kain’s gaze. Taking it at a cue, Kain said, “But sure, for your fragile feeling, I’ll call you Mr. Wilde.”

Those behind the glass were silent, but their minds were in full panic mode. I would not blame them. This was their last chance after all. Kain cleared his throat. “E-hem, seeing how you two are so tight knit, I could not help but ask. Mr. Wilde, imagine,” He was continuously snapping his fingers.  “Let’s say, there is a plague, which could wipe out, the entire population.” Each snap marked his punctuations. His left eye leered at Nick. “And, the ONLY way, to stop it, is you, killing, her.” At the final snap, he pointed his index finger at Judy.

The rabbit’s ears sprang straight up. Her eyes widen. Reflex commanded her neck to have a quick turn to the left. She could she the fur on the back of Nick's neck fluffed up. His neck stiffened. Eyes were not blinking. “Would you do it?” The fox flinched at the question.

Inside, Nick just froze. The only thing he could come up with was: _“What kind of messed-up question was that?”_

Entertained by Nick’s struggle to respond, the lynx lectured him a hint. “Logically speaking, the good of the many shall out weight that of a few.” He snapped his fingers. “So, the answer would be obvious. But, could you do it?” He rearranged his fingers to imitate a gun. He pointed the muzzle at Judy. His thumb rose up like a hammer of a revolver. His mouth made a clicking sound. Knowing that it could not hurt Judy, Nick still felt a sense of dread from those fingertips. It was the same feeling that he got during thriller movies; particularly scenes that foreshadowing a character’s demise.

Judy did not care for what the lynx was doing.  She was more worried about Nick. Her sensitive hearing could pick up a ghostly sound of a panic attack within Nick’s head.

“Would you do it for a crowded world where no one truly understands you?” Each sentence came from Kain was a nail, pinning its way into Nick’s head. They were going in too fast, too fast for him to come up with a retort.

“Think of it this way. Despite the world inhabited by the noise of countless others, you are alone. Have you ever felt like that, Mr. Wilde?”

_“Oh yes, plenty of times.”_ The back of Nick’s mind said. Finnick sure was his friend, but only a partner in crime. Even though they had known each other for years, late at night, Nick would felt cold and alone under that bridge. With Judy, it was different. He could go to sleep easily, looking forward to seeing her the next day.

Kain continued with his verbal nails. “What if this rabbit is the only one that would actually accompany you throughout this miserable world? The one that gives you a purpose? Would you make her breathe her last breath in your arms? Or would you let the world die? That’s a lot of mammals there, Mr. Wilde.”

Both Judy and Kain waited for the answer; Nick could feel it. He had never really thought about it. He would never understand why he followed Judy throughout cases after cases. There was no recording pen, which threatened to put him in jail. The past few months, he followed her because she gave him a reason. A reason to wake up every day at 5:30 and “make the world a better place”.  He had never asked why, because being with her just felt so, natural and right. There was no logic behind it. At least, it was not the usual kind.

For a moment, he forgot why he was here, in this room. Forgot he was here to make sure that this criminal was satisfied and cough out three safe days for the city. Instead, he played the supposed scenario in his head. He could see him holding a weapon and pointed it at- _“NOOOOO”_ He screamed in his head.

Kain was starting to lean back again. “Hehehehe, what’s wrong? It’s just a hypothesis, right, little bunny?”

Judy was about to call it quit until Nick slammed his palm on the table. He looked straight at Kain, face full of clarity and grit. The lynx did not expect that. Nick answered, “It depends on her. If she truly wants to save the world, thus sacrificing herself, I’ll do it. Because it is what she wants.”

Kain’s expression changed again. He cleared that surprised look, left room for a neutral expression. Nick’s hand left the table, as his body began to relax a little. Judy, on the other hand, was resisting the urge to hug him right on the spot. Sitting upright on his chair, Kain said, “199042539125”

The two officers stayed still. They did not know what he meant by that (Probably because they had not recovered from his ‘question’). Lucky for them, those from the outside had already recorded the whole thing. Seeing how both refused to respond, he said, “I hate repeating myself, 199042539125, that’s all that you need. The two of you can go now.”

As both were still in their seats, Kain said, “Okayyy, once you two return to Earth, tell Chief Bogo this. From now on, only the two of you can speak to me. Also, bonus point if you get all this on television.” Kain reached his head up and shouted. “Warden! I wish to return to my cell!”

 

A few hours later, Nick and Judy were in their cruiser. This was the longest time they have spent together without saying a word to each other. As usual, Judy was behind the wheel.

The radio was broadcasting that code for the third time. Nick turned it off.  The fox then returned to his previous task, looking at the car’s window. His ears suddenly perked up.

“Nick, are you okay?” Judy said. She wished to slap herself at that line. After hours of silence, that was what she had come up with.

“I’m fine, Judy,” Nick said. He wished to slap himself at that line. The poor soul had worked up the courage to break the silence, and of course, he had to answer it with that. She would probably think that he was driving her away. As Judy was about to let the song of silence go on, Nick added. “It just. That guy. He is bad news. He’s playing us while the city under threat. As if all these live are nothing to him. How could a professor, no, mammal be that, cruel?”

“I don’t know either, Nick.” She quickly switched lane. “I’m sorry.”

“Nah, there’s nothing to apologize. You don’t know, end of story. If there is any problem, then it is with that guy’s head.”

The silence gap between them appeared again, but not for long. “Nick, about what you have said back then. I, erm, appreciate it.”

Nick turned to her, smiling. “Hey, well, that’s what, partner supposed to do, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s, uh, it’s, it’s, I don’t know how to phrase it.” She tried to look to him, but her eyes needed to be on the road.

“Then don’t. Don’t force yourself to something that you are unsure of.”

Feeling reassured, she said, “Thanks, Nick.”

“Don’t mention it. Hey, are you tired?” Nick changed the subject.

“Exhausted, strange considering what we have done today.” (Which was sitting and running between two places)

“So wanna head up to the White Palette. You know, just something to take our minds off of this whole mess.”

The idea of going to a hipster restaurant/café on a Tuesday was unusual for her. However, considering the events of the day, she said, “Sure, that sound, swell.”

“All right, let’s do it then.”

“Do you mind if we drop by my apartment. I need to change.”

“Em, sure.” He drew a smirk on his face. “What? Afraid the uniform is not ‘hipster’ enough for the place?”

“Well, considering the city expecting us to keep them safe. What would they say if they see two officers just seeping drink at a café and eating exotic bugs and vegetable?”

“Heh, can’t argue with that, Carrot. But then we have to return the car as well,”

“Don’t have to remind me.”

It was dark out by the time they reached Judy’s apartment. Something caught them by surprise. Parked in front of the building was a black SUV. Stood outside of the front door was a bear in suit and shade. He approached Judy the moment she stepped out of her cruiser. “Officer Hopps? Officer Wilde,” he said.

The two looked at each other. Then she said. “Yes?”

“Sorry to disturb you at this hour madam, I’m here to pass a message from the mayor. He wished to speak with you tomorrow.”

Nick jumped right in with a question, “Us or just her?”

“The two of you, of course. He has heard about the whole thing with Gunther. The Mayor said he wished to help. He expects to see you two at City hall, 9 am. If you want to, I would be glad to escort you tomorrow.”

Judy shook her head, “No, no, it’s fine. We’ll be there, tomorrow.”

“Very well, I’ll tell him. Have a good night.” The bear bowed before leaving.

* * *

 

Author note:

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me the motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to update these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is one of my first stories so please forgive possible mistakes in the future and help me fix them.

Thanks again and have a pleasant day.


	4. Chapter 4

A few things before we start: I would like to thank you for the reviews. You are doing me a huge favor for just leaving them. Also, I’m sorry for the slight delay. Real life problems just keep piling up. With those out of the way, please enjoy.

* * *

 

Disclaimer:

The following is a fan-based fiction.  Zootopia and its characters are owned by Disney. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artists as well.

(The song Parade by Susumu Hirasawa begins to play)

Chesterization proudly presents

A Zootopia fanfiction

**Parade of Savagery**

 (Song ends)

**Chapter 4: Separate, Reunite**

  
8: 30 AM at City Hall

The Mayor, without his jacket and tie, rushed to the door. He tried his best to fix the hair on the top of his head. It did not work. Besides, the sweat on his untucked shirt had already made him look like a run-of-the-mill-white-collar worker on the verge of being fired. He made a vote-winning smile and opened the door. He looked down at his watch. “Ah, a bit early, but I’m glad that you two could make it.” He got the other door opened. “Please, come in.” Nick and Judy stepped inside.

This was Judy’s second visit to this room, but she could not recognize it. It looked as if an explosion of papers had just taken place. The smell of freshly printed papers would support that childish theory. Occupied the two corners of the room and along the walls were towers. Towers made of stacks upon stacks of documents with plastic boxes as their bases. Some pieces of papers were scatted on the floor. The Mayor made sure that these would not be confused by sticking post-it notes on them. 

Occupied the surface of his desk were a few plastic boxes contained more of the documents. One with a keen eye would notice a small picture frame, a pen and few stacks of post-it note hiding among those boxes. The Mayor did not need to use the desk it seemed. The thing was too big for him anyway. On the floor, behind the desk was a sleeping bag; sitting next to it was an electric kettle. The only places that were clear were the guest table, the sofas and the chairs in the office.

On the wall was a chart made by glued-on print paper. The chart at that moment was only a straight arrow. The phrase “Timeline” was written underneath the chart. One the walls were, even more, post-it notes, some contained only one word or phrase, such as “Movement”; “Contacts”; Criminal record?; “UfZ”; and more. Under those phrases were arrows pointed toward a tower of documents. The only things on the wall look out of place were a mirror in the area near his desk, a few diplomas and a giant oil painting.

The Mayor kicked a small stack of documents to the side, making way for Nick and Judy. “Welcome to my office. Sorry for the mess, it’s just how I work.”

Judy said. “It’s fine sir. We have bigger things to worry about.”

“Thank you, Officer Hopps.” He bowed then turned to Nick. “I don’t think we have been introduced. Good morning, I’m Mark Lago Thumper.” He reached his hand out, expecting Nick to shake it.

The fox refused. “Yes, we already know that, Mayor. I think it’s better for us to cut to the chase.”

The Mayor retracted his hand. “Hum, eager and efficient, couldn’t expect anything less from the city heroes.” He clasped his hands together. His head held up. “All right, let’s skip the introduction and get straight to it.” He climbed on the guest chair and jumped onto his desk. His hand picked up one box.

He said, “I’ve done some leg works and go through a few contacts,” before jumping down. The rabbit brought the box to the officers. “I managed to dig up all the records surrounding our lynx.”

Nick tried to grab the box. “Great, then we just need to gather these and take them back to the ZPD.”

The Mayor pulled the box away from Nick’s reach. He put up that vote-winning smile again. “That’s the problem, Officer Wilde.” That made Nick frowned in disapproval. The rabbit put the box down. “None of these papers must leave this room.”

Judy asked before Nick could say a word. “Why?”

The Mayor’s eyes starting to look down. Was he ashamed or afraid? It was hard for Judy to tell. “You will be, astonished or terrified to know that, well, how much personal data within the city that is not, and should not be ‘available’, even to the chief of ZPD.” Judy and Nick felt shivers down their spines. The same feeling you get when knowing that an urban legend was true. The mayor focused his vision on the box. “I’m sticking my neck out just to make one copy of the documents that you are seeing right now. I would appreciate that,” he leered at the two “the two of you keep this, under wrap. The city had changed mayor way too many times recently. In these troublesome moments, it is not ‘appropriate’ to do it once more.”

Judy crossed her arms. “I don’t know about this, sir.”

The mayor sighed. “I know, it is horrible of me to say so, but, you must understand. These are desperate times.”

Nick jumped in. “Okay, we’ll just forget about this. So, we have this guy’s data, now what?”

The Mayor said, “If we understand his motives and angles, we may gain an edge over him. Also, we could possibly track down his associate with this.”

Judy said, “Yes it would definitely help.”

The mayor said, “Since the two of you are the only one that could approach him, you will need these data more than anyone else.” He picked up one file and gave it to Judy, who took it without question.

As the Mayor was reaching down for another file, Nick pointed to the ground and said. “No, I’m not playing his game.” Judy and the Mayor looked at him in surprise. “Trying to win against him in this? It’s pointless. It’s his game; he could just change the rules at any moment.”

Nick quickly headed back to the door. “We are wasting time. Thank you for your help Mark, but we’ll do this, our way.” His hand urged Judy. “Judy, c’mon, let’s go!”

The Mayor, perplexed by his statement said. “Game? What are you talking about? These could be invaluable clues as well.”

“From the look of it”, Nick scanned around the office. “You are doing a bang job on your own. Tell us when you find something. Judy, let’s go.”

Seeing how Judy was standing like a deer that crossed the road at the wrong time, the Mayor stated an idea. “Officer Wilde, we may have different methods, but our goal is the same. We all want the city to be safe and stop this mad brute. Thus, I propose that we try different approaches at once." He made a face. "But, since I am not in the position of, well, doing investigations. Trust me, the city officials are about to harass me at any moment.” He cracked a dodgy smile. “Also, Kain explicitly ask for the two of you. I think officer Hopps should stay.” He put his hand on his chest. “But that’s just me; let her decide this one, yes?”

Judy made a face. In her guts, she knew something like this would happen. She turned to Nick. Her ears cupped down. She said, “Sorry, Nick, but I think we-“

The Mayor shifted his attention to Nick. In a split second, the ashen rabbit noticed a hint of disappointment on the fox’s face. Nick put up a smile and his hand. “No need, you want it, you get it.” He got one foot out of the door. “Just don’t be jealous when I crack this case before you do.”

The Mayor said, “I would not. In fact, I would be thrilled if you manage to do so, the sooner the better.”

Nick yanked the smile away and replaced it with an annoyed look. “I’m not talking to you, Mark.” He slammed the door.

The burst of sound made the Mayor’s ears twitched. “Huh? Have I said something wrong? Well, other than me breaking a few, dozens of regulations.”

Judy drew a long breath then said. “No, it’s fine, sir.”

With the container in his hand, the Mayor said. “So, officer Hopps, should we begin?”

“Yes, right away.”

Judy sat down on the sofa, while the Mayor got on his desk. She opened the file the mayor had given her. Half of the documents were written in a foreign language. The other, she hoped that it was the right translation. She found a copy of a copy of a copy of Kain’s birth certificate, a few badly printed photographs and some other documents. She whispered what her eyes picked up. “Gunther…took refuge in… Grünwald’s civil war…reached the rank of…“

 

Back at the Zootopia Penitentiary

A female mountain goat and a boar the size of a small rhino were sitting in the Monitor room. Both wore warden uniforms, though the one on the boar looked more ‘important’. The goat spoke after witnessing the commotion at the prison yard. “Eh, Chief Warden Douglas, should we do something?”

The boar responded without a hint of sympathy. “Why? I say this is karma for the little bastard.” He then turned to her. “Also, Gwendolyn, stop calling me by my full title. It sounds weird.”

She bowed. “Sorry sir, won’t happen again.”

At the prison yard, a polar bear was holding Kain up by his collar. the bear's height was a few inches below the biggest predator in Zootopia. Kain's back was pressed against a hard and rough wall. His left and right were the sound of cheering, chanting and shouting. It was hard to make out what they were saying, but the common message was: “The pet must learn his lesson”. In front of Kain was a face, which shared a similar age to his. However, if Kain were not fast enough, a fist the size of a police battle ram would obscure the vision of that face. 

I always found it strange that whether wardens showing favorability (or what look like favorability) toward a prisoner, that prisoner was dubbed as "a pet". For some reasons, the predator inmates were so insecure about the pets that they felt the needs to address who was in truly in charge of the prison ground. However, who am I to judge the internal politics of a prison? In there, things operated on a different realm altogether.

Most pets would have begged for their lives by now. Yet, instead of showing fear, Kain closed his eyes and said in a gentle tone. His hand reached for the bear’s fist. He patted on it, like a therapist comforting his patient. “Oh, dear brother, tell me, what cracks hidden within this impenetrable wall of stoicism and brutality? Who hurts you? So much that you wish to impose such violent on a poor soul such as myself. Tell me brother.”

The other prisoners stopped yelling and looked at each other. After a good three seconds, they burst out laughing. The bear grabbed his fist tight, making his knuckles popped. That sound silenced the prisoners. The bear looked straight at Kain, treating his gaze as gunshots. He then snickered.“Heheheh, Are you high? What did the wardens give you," he whispered the last line "and can I get some?”

Kain just lightly shook his head. “No, not at all, brother. In term of stature and status, I am not beneath or above you.”

“Yeah, you are definitely on something. Tell me, what are you doing here in the yard?” The bear increased the grip.

Kain opened his eyes and started to pick up the bear’s body language. “I’m sorry if I have trespassed. But, right now, I just wish to understand.” He bowed. “I am not afraid. If beating an old man such as myself bring you solace, then go ahead.” Kain presented his left cheek. The bear brought his fist closer. Kain did not recoil nor shake. The lynx felt a quick breeze caressed his face. “What’s wrong, brother? What stopped you?”

Kain turned to face him, only to see the fist and heard a voice. “No one has ever said that, to me. And you were about to take,” the bear shook his head “no one has the guts to.”

“No one has ever tried, it seems. For a rotten city that praises the ideal of ‘Try everything’ they sure miss out on the inconvenient ones. Such as seeing you more than just a brute. So, tell me, no, us, your brothers, your pain.”

The bear lifted Kain from the wall then slammed him back to it. The lynx let out a painful grunt. “You sound like my therapist. You know what happen to him? A meat popsicle under the sea." The bear spat at the ground. "Pain? What do you know about pain? You are just like them, trying to act all high and mighty in their ivory towers.” He repeated the process of slamming Kain onto the wall. “Do you really know what pain is, Brother?” The last word came out more as an insult than anything else did.

Kain swallowed some of his blood and confessed. “I, I lost my parents” he took a breather, “to the war that I set out to stop”. The bear loosened his grip a little. After all, he was fortunate enough to see his mother departed on her deathbed. And he killed his father in his own game. Kain continued, “I lost my leg, twenty-three days after becoming a sergeant. I lost all my comrades, on victory day. I lost my youth fixing an atrocity. Only to find out it was still alive, years later, only in a different form.”

The bear frowned, trying to pick up a piece of memory in his head. “Wait the minute, I’ve heard that somewhere,” the bear’s eyes widen “Well, I’ll be damned”. He was not good at remembering faces, but he could remember stories clearly. “Don’t tell me, you are Schoche.” The bear released his grip on Kain. Gravity embraced the lynx in an instant.

Kain tried to look up and form words. “Huh? The only bear that I know of is. Dear Lord, Vankovic, is that you? Vankovic Koslov? It is you!” The lynx cracked a smile. He wished to give the bear a hug but that proved impossible without his other leg.

The bear gave him a hand, Kain took it. “Holy hell, you look horrible.”

Kain got up with Koslov’s help. The tone of his voice changed. “Hehe, have a look at yourself in the mirror lately?”

Koslov held on to Kain’s arm, keeping the lynx up. “Hum, well, glad to see something haven’t changed.”

Kain patted on Koslov’s arm. “The feeling is mutual. Although I’m a bit hurt, emotionally and physically.” Unknowing to Kain and Koslov, the other prisoners had gone ghost quiet. However, one prisoner, an Artic fox was brave enough to come forward. His arms carried Kain’s crutches. He then handed the crutches back to Kain, who took it with a bow. “Thank you.” He turned back to Koslov. “How did you not recognize me? How many one-legged lynx have you met in your lifetime?”

Koslov waited until Kain got the crutches in proper place before letting go. “You’ll be surprised, Schoche.”

“Well, I am now.” He tried to shrug but standing (though wobbly) took priority. “What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were still in the Big mansion, running that empire of your.”

Koslov rubbed his neck. “Yeah, about that” Koslov looked away. An old wound had been dug up. “I lost it and everything else-”

Kain winced. He realized that he had asked the wrong question. “Damn, sorry abou-”

Koslov continued. “to a shrew.”

“Ouch, eh, how was the missus?” Kain put on a smile.

“Her?” Koslov laughed, humorlessly. That prompted Kain to shut his mouth tight. “You want to know about her?” Kain shook his head “I poured my heart out to her. I did everything I could. If the broad want a single flower that grows on the top of the world. I’ll climb to it and pluck it out with my bare hands. I gave her all the things that she ever wanted. I offered her nothing but perfectness.”

Kain was looking for a way out. “Okay?”

“And in the end, she cheated on me, for, for, for, her “personal” trainer. Thinking of that son of a whore, make my blood boil.” That knuckle popping sound came again.

Seeing how he had already cracked the thin ice, Kain said. “Brother, if you don’t want to you can”

Koslov released then grabbed his fist tight. It made that sound again. “I hunted them down. Once I did, I snapped her and that scum of the earth’s spines in half. I let him live, cause he would suffer more, then he’ll die in pain.” Kain and the other prisoners became standing stones. With a sinister smile, Koslov said, “I then dropped on my knees and put both hands on her throat. And crack. Afterward, I ended up here. I have already lost my legacy. She was all that I had. So, heh, what’s the point, right?”

Kain looked down. “Well, I’m not the best judge for that.” He changed the subject. “What about junior? Don’t tell me that he is dead too.”

“No, he is alive.”

Kain breathed a sigh of relief. “Whew, all is not lost after-“

Koslov said with a straight face. “He now works for the shrew.”

Kain slapped his temple. “God freaking damn it, no wonder why you are so pissed-off.” He offered Koslov a hug. “Come here. Tell your old pal Schoche all about it.”

“Yeah, in a bit.” Koslov turned around. He shouted. “All you runts listen up!” The bear slapped Kain’s shoulder. The impact rattled Kain’s pain receptors. Memory and the aching feeling from the brawl with Nick returned. Kain bit down his lip. He desperately tried to maintain his stance and keep his face from looking too weird. Koslov continued. “This is no pet. He is Schoche, a great mammal and an old friend of mine. Do you know what that mean?”

The prisoners had no idea what had happened. They just say their default respond to Koslov. “Yes, boss!” The prisoners then saluted while Koslov released a satisfied yet hearty laugh.

With one eye closed and teeth gritted, Kain thought.  _“Good God, what the hell did I get myself into?”_

Nick was back at Main Street. It has only been two days and the place had already looked like the aftermath of a battlefield. Chalk outlines of different animals and dark sticky stains were everywhere. Police tapes were used lavishly. As if, an enthusiastic child had a hold on seventeen rolls of those. Such child ran around with them and played a game of wrapping those around every corner. There were a few officers at the scene. Most of them just shook their head. The rest sighed and tried to look busy. Nick worked his way to Kain’s float (or whatever was left of it).

The black wolf Noira was the only one there. Nick had a look around. Usually, her partner would accompany her; he could not find her today. Nick walked toward Noira and asked. “Hey, Noira, erm, how was your day?”

She just kneeled down and had a look at the wreckage, never looked back to face Nick. “Imagine Judy in the hospital fighting for her life, while a nut case messes with you and the city. That’s my day.” She said with her usual stoic tone.

Nick scratched the back of his head. “Heh, yeah, um, me and Judy, aren’t like you and Katelyn.”

Noira poured salt into her voice. “Oh, Pardon me for not being good at these relationship gossips. I was too-” she stopped and stood up. Her voice softened as she brushed her hair with her fingers. “Sorry, I’m just, on edge these days.”

“It’s fine, I don’t blame you.” Nick tried to look past her. Seeing nothing but a blackened heap, he said. “So, what have you find so far?”

“Not much, just a load of questions and piles of rubbles.” She started to walk around the area where the float blew up. Her eyes were checking the ground. Nick unconsciously followed her. After growing tired of scanning her eyes left and right, she turned to Nick. “Where is Judy anyway?”

His eyes avoided hers. “Eh, she’s doing her thing. Trying another way.”

“I see. Kinda strange seeing you on your own.” She said before checking under an abandoned car.

He said, dragging his finger on the windshield. “Yeah, it’s just temporary. Hope that we could crack this case soon and let everything go back to normal.”

Noira stood up. “Heh, that’s optimistic of you, Nick. But I don’t think that’s going to be the case.”

Nick looked back at the chalk lines. “Yeah, those who were, lost.”

The wolf shook her head. “Not just that Nick.” That made his ears perked up. “I was surfing the net yesterday. Reports said there were signs of mammals, actually getting behind the guy.”

Nick snickered. “Pf. Noira, I doubt that those. What? Ten mammals are going to change anything.”

“Make it at least 25. I know they are the minority now Nick. But I have a feeling that it won’t be long.” Her delivery on that line cause the fox to made an audible gulp. “But maybe you’re right. Maybe the guy is just crazy and so are those few mammals. I mean, why he would bother with the Taser arrows.”

Tilted his head, Nick said, “What do you mean?”

She moved forward. “Think about it, those arrows cost 4 times as much as traditional arrows. Why would he even bother?”

Nick said, “Doesn’t have to gut take actually take a life?”

“Yeah, but he sure as hell wanted to take Judy’s and the Mayors”

The piece of information shook Nick greatly. “What!!?”

“Sorry, she must not have told you. I would have done the same.” Nick was starting to piece together Judy’s reactions. Noira just continued. “Yeah, Judy had a face-off with the guy. How did she make it out still baffles me.” She snapped her finger. “Still, there are a lot of things with this lynx that seems odd and out of place.”

Nick, though still sorting thoughts in his head, produced a: “Go on”

“He said he doesn’t take anything seriously, yet when Tamera we rambling about her ‘books’, he went berserk. That’s not the only time, though. His words and tone are inconsistent during the whole interrogation. And the strange things just doesn’t limit to him. You’ve seen his weapon and leg?”

Nick crossed his arms. “Yeah, what about those?”

“The ZPD checked the records and they had never seen anything like those. That’s mean they custom made. And I doubt a 60 something old fart could make something like that.”

Nick shrugged. “Well, he is a professor.”

“In Political Science, Nick. These are not some kind of backyard retirement projects. This associate of his? She is no joke.”

The only thing Nick could say was. “Damn, never thought you to be the detective type.”

That touched her pride, somewhat. “I’m an officer too, Nick. Judy is not the only one that can do some basic observations. This is not some kind of kiddies’ movie where the villain is the first character you ignore.”

Nick cracked a smile. “I know this is serious stuff, but you need to relax a little, Noira.”

There went the salt again. “Oh, I will. Once Katelyn knocks that smug off the nutcase’s face.”

Nick looked from side to side. “Ohhhh okay sure. Hey, I know it’s random, but, er, mind if I, erm, tag along for now?”

She gave the thought for two seconds before saying. “Why not, it’s not like anyone would care.”

She moved to the last abandon car, the closest one to the float. Once again, the wolf looked at the float. For some reason, the explosion left the tail end in one piece, though barely standing. She checked the car first. Noira examined the door. Not much. The paint job was clean and the tires were still intact. She had a look down. There were a manhole and nothing else. Noira heard a random cracking sound. She turned around and saw what left of the float was missing a chunk. Her officer’s instinct kicked in and immediately searched for the culprit. Did not take her long to find out it was Nick. In his hand was a perfect rectangle plank of wood. Nick could see her trying to hold back, something.

Nick looked around and said, “Eh, I can explain.”

Noira stuck her hand out. “Sure, go ahead. What? The plank of wood defined the law of physic and landed on your hands. Tell me more.” She approached him slowly. Nick took a step back. “The hell are you doing? I’m not gonna eat you. You messed up the scene. Might as well see what you have.”

“Whew, heh, got me worry for a second there. Check this.” He flipped the plank. There were a bunch of numbers and phrases painted on the wood.

Noira‘s hand was on her hip. “Okay, so?”

“Look at it, it’s the Uni corporation. Those guys are stingy as hell. They make sure none of their wood is wasted. And look at the date, it’s surprisingly close.”

Noira laughed. “Nick, come on, let’s be real here. Those guys sometimes toss their leftover wood. And even with those ‘clues’ how the hell are we supposed to track that?”

“C’mon Noira, think of the possibilities. If Judy could solve a case with one photo I can do this too!”

Noira ran her finger through her hair. “Nick, we cannot get a warrant with a plank of wood that could be found, LITERALLY ANYWHERE!”

Defeated, Nick tossed the plank on the ground. “Aw damn it! You’re right.”

She let out a sigh of disapproval. “Nick, you ruined the scene for that. Okay, I’ll this one slide. You are lucky that there aren’t something like, I don’t know, a-“

Before she could say ‘bomb’, both heard a clinking noise. Then came a rolling sound. A small glass cylinder device got out from what left of the float. Inside the cylinder was a red liquid. The curious device rolled toward Noira’s right leg. 

Nick said while stepping away from her, inch by inch. “Is that, what I think it is?” Noira was rumbling. She would have shown him the definition of ‘savage’ if this thing had not stopped at her leg. Nick’s eyes sparked up. He then pointed at the device. “Hey, do you think we could get a print on that?”

Noira said through her teeth. “Nick, I would strangle you, if that was not a sound idea. Now, put on your big-boy gloves and get this thing away from my foot!”

 Back at City Hall

Judy had just finished writing a few words on the chart. “Officer Hopps, I think we should take a short break.” The Mayor said, before landing on his sleeping bag.

Judy wiped her forehead and nodded in silent.

The mayor opened up his drawer. He took out a large thermal bottle along with two cheap teacups from it. “Tea?” He said while opening the bottle.

“Yes, please,” Judy said, before climbing on the chair in front of his desk. The mayor got back on his desk. From the edge of it, he tried to reach down to give Judy a cup.

The female bunny took it with a nod. She took one sip. The taste was slightly sour. “Hum, what’s in this?”

“Nothing special, just cheery tea. So, have you found anything?”

“Not yet sir. Maybe the fact that I know where he got his military training from” She tried to say something else, but, there was not much to it. She then looked at the door while remained silent.

“Something’s wrong, officer Hopps?”

Snapped out of her empty thoughts, she said. “No, not at all, just spacing out for a bit.” She looked around, searching for something to change the subject. The painting of a wooden cottage in a forest fit the bill. “That's a nice painting.” She said.

The Mayor turned to the object. “Oh, that? Yeah, a friend of mine made it.”

“Oh” That was all she could say, without the fear of sound like prying. “I mean, it looks stunning. What does it call?”

“She called it “Dreamworld”. She had this fantasy of living the fairy tales life. Spend the rest of her life in a peaceful land with her love ones, draw from time to time. Just enjoying live for what it worth.” The Mayor snickered. “It’s too sappy for me. I would rather spend my life making my mark on the world. Our paths are just too different. Maybe that’s why we lost contact.” The Mayor started to trail off as he was sipping his tea. A blank silent took place, urging the Mayor to say, “But well, it does seem like we have taken enough time. Let’s get back to it.”

He put the cup down and jumped back on the floor. The ashen rabbit went to a tower that said UfZ. “Let’s start with this pile.” He picked up a chunk of documents on top of it. “There was a huge gap in his record. Most of what happened after the war were, well, hard to find. The nation had just recovered from a twenty-year civil war. Everything was in disarray. Not to mention that this was over thirty years ago, in a country almost halfway across the globe.”

Judy headed toward the tower as well. “But do we have his record after he moved to Zootopia?”

The mayor searched the file, “Yup, I think, they are somewhere in here. Wait a second.” He picked up two files “There you are.” He handed them to Judy.

“What is his reason for moving here?”

“I think it was for education. Some of the data related to the UfZ traced all the way back 30 years ago. I doubt that he had a Ph.D. at that point. He could easily pay his way to UfZ. Military background, money from being on the victory side. It’s more than enough to get him the education he needed. But heh, that’s just the impression that I got from digging these up, I have not read them yet.” He then returned to his desk. The Mayor put on his jacket and fixed his clothes. He was about to go somewhere it seemed.

Judy got back to her seat and resumed the task. She opened the file. These were documents regarding his early days at the university. His grades and everything were excellent, even for a foreigner. For some reason, reading his school records, reminded her of a memory or a fragment of it. A fragment that she wished to forget,  _“Naive little hick with good grades and big ideas comes to Zootopia, thinking everyone-”_ She shook her head then scanned through a few photographs. These were much better in quality. One common detail in these photos made she asked the Mayor. “What is he wearing around his neck?” She then showed him Kain’s enlarged student ID photo. The question came before he could excuse himself out of the room.

“Oh, that?” He scratched the back of his head. “Ermmmmmmmmmm.” He looked at all the direction that his eyes could see. After he had exhausted his options, he said. “Oh, that’s a shock collar. All predators used to wear those in Zootopia. Excuse me but I” He pointed toward the window as if he was asking Judy’s permission to jump through it.

Judy squinted her eyes. “Shock collars? What do they have to do with-”

The Mayor pulled his ear down before answering. He sped up his speech, hoped that would get her to change the subject. “The name is self-explanatory. When a predator gets too excited or, angry, that thing lets out a shock. Weaker than Taser but enough to, em, make a threat. Crap! Sorry, I meant a point.” He snapped his finger. “Yes, a point.”

“That’s horrible. Why would they do that?”

“Well, it was, um, it was a different time back then.” He smiled, silently asking for a release.

Judy kept up her questions. “And why haven’t I heard of it?

He kept putting up his empty smile. “Um, haiz, it makes sense back then.”

“I know, but why didn’t I know about this?” The Mayor could feel the pressure from the question. “What’s the matter, Mayor?”

He used the officials’ excuse. “We all have changed, that is no longer us anymore. So, there is no point in remembering it? Heh?” Tired of lying to himself, he said with his head down. “Sorry, there is no excuse for it.” He then looked straight at her. His plan to get out of the room before she started asking these kinds of questions had failed; might as well own up to it. “Because the city wants to bury it. I was thinking of, well, let you discover this on your own. Too late for that it seems.” He then walked toward the Criminal Record tower. “The reason why there are so many hidden records regarding this guy, because he appeared to have involved in, this removal of shock collar act. In this pile are all the investigations on him at the time.”

“Mayor, tell me, straight on. Why would the city want to bury that?”

The Mayor dodged her eye contact, a big no-no for his image. “It was an ugly part of our history, and well. It brought too much pain. The city officials and past mayors afraid that generations to come could not, eh, handle the harshness of it. And lost faith in the city, lose faith in us.” He pointed toward himself.

Judy could barely close her mouth at the absurdity. “Are you saying that we’re just going to ignore it?”

The Mayor shook his head. “No, we admitted to it decades ago, so there is no point in remembering it. We have abolished the problem we have evolved beyond that. Hell, Kain from some of these records, seemed to be okay with just let life go on and live in peace. Until now, for some reason.” He tried to pick up the script that the city officials had given him. However, seeing Judy’s expression of absolute disgust, he said. “Argh, screw this. I don’t believe any of that either. Hell, I wish that we had this part in our museums to remind us of not making the same mistake. But that would be asking too much.” He turned around and looked at his desk. “I’m a young mayor. Asking for more is not an option.” He then heard a crashing noise. He turned around and saw the Criminal Record tower had fallen. “What are you doing?” He said. He was shocked but somehow expected this.

She was digging through the pile of records. Her fingers scurried through the files and pages. These were not traditional criminal record at all. Make up the bulk of them were documents detailing investigations. She had a quick scan through them, so few of the words were registered. However, the photographs within these files stuck in her memory rather well. All were images of Kain, but they were taken at rather ‘questionable angles’. Most of the photos featured Kain in casual clothes around different predators. He would try to help them in one form or another in these photos. The rest were of him in a white suit. In those, the lynx would be standing behind or near a lion in a similar suit; talking to a colossus polar bear; walking alone in a rundown neighborhood; or simply do something with a notepad at backstage, alone. On the other hand, the lion featured in those photos would stand either in front of a large audience or behind a podium.

The mayor was still asking, “Officer Hopps?” and she still ignoring him.

When the stream of image stopped, Judy picked up a copy of an order form. Said form commanded the ZPD to take immediate action again Kain. They were afraid that he was doing could disrupt and potentially destroy order within the city.

The last file contained a thick amount of paperwork. Words and seals that ensured the lynx was going to be in prison for a long time. However, the first page of that file made Judy gasped. Like any criminal record, the first thing you would see would be a mugshot. Kain’s mugshot was not a pretty one to look at. It was not for his unappealing appearance. Because he was barely conscious when the picture was taken. His head slightly tilted. His right eye bruised up and his left shut tight. It was a black and white photo, but Judy was sure that the dark color dripping from his neck onto his white suit was blood.

Judy immediately tossed the document onto the floor and ran straight toward the door. “Where are you going, officer Hopps?” The Mayor asked. She bolted out of the door. “Okay, see, you?” The Mayor saluted her. He tried to pick up the documents. That was when his phone rang. The Mayor sighed as he tried to pick up the phone.

 

An hour later, at a warehouse underneath the Rainforest District

Nick, Noira and a few larger officers were standing outside of the door. All were ready for an arrest. Nick spoke to his phone. “Hey, Carrots, you won’t believe this but you we got a lead. We got the associate’s print and found her address. Call me back whenever you can.” The fox put the phone in his pocket and pick up his tranquilizer.

“Are you ready for this, Nick?” Noira asked while clutching on to her Taser gun and a warrant.

“You don’t have to ask.”

 

At the Zootopia Penitentiary

Chief Warden Douglas, Bogo and a few other wardens made their way toward the prison yard. Once they did, Bogo could not believe what he was seeing. The prisoners were gathering in large circles. At the center of it, was Kain. Bogo turned to the boar, asked. “What the hell is he doing?”

The other Chief said, “As far as I can tell, teaching.” Bogo turned to him, asking,  _“Are you serious?”_  with his expression. “Before you start bitching, no, I see no reason to stop him. This is the calmest these prisoners have ever been. You should have seen what happened before that.”

Bogo pointed. “I don’t care. I need him now. Just get him out.”

“Sure” Chief Warden Douglas jerked his head, telling other wardens to follow him. In respond, they did, not before prepping their shock batons.

A few yards away, Kain’s lesson was coming to a close. “And that’s it, brother. That’s “The Republic” in a nutshell. A story of a bunch of old guys getting drunk and talking about their imaginary state. Not so intimidating now, isn’t it?” The prisoners laughed at his remarks, some nodded, and a small few took note. “But, don’t think that wouldn’t carry any weight. 2500 years later, their words still ring true, but god damn it, no one ever listen and try to implement them.”

A random predator yelled, “Yeah! Preach, brother!”

Kain snickered, “Heh, thanks, so, how about something more-“The prisoners started to fan out and away from Kain. Without a hint of surprise, he turned around. “Oh, hello, Chief Warden Douglas, to what do I owe the pleasure?” The boar closed his eyes in annoyance. Kain looked behind the boar “Oh, and Bogo too.” The wardens kept the prisoners at a fair distance away from Kain, while Bogo approached him.

As the buffalo was about to force the lynx to move, a few prisoners attempted to step up.

Kain raised his palm. The sight of his empty hand somehow calmed the beasts that were the prisoners. “Brothers, be kind.” His ‘brothers’ fanned out some more and made some room for Chief Warden Douglas to help him Kain get back inside. The boar did not push nor pull. Instead, he whispered whether the lynx needed help, Kain said “No” and moved forward, willingly. The lynx turned his head back, smiling. “Don’t worry about me, brothers. I will be fine. I’m sure someone as righteous as the Chief, would not do anything ‘bad’ to me.” He then turned to Bogo. His eyes opened wide and looked up, like a child who went into the operating room for the first time. “Right, Chief?”

Later, Kain was back at the interrogation room. This time, though, he made his way to the chair on his own. He settled the crutches on the table and looked straight at the opposite side. He smiled. “Just you today, officer Fluff?”

* * *

 

Author note:

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me the motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to update these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is one of my first stories so please forgive possible mistakes in the future and help me fix them.

Thanks again and have a pleasant day.

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

I apologize for the delay. This one chapter was much longer than the rest. In addition to that, I had tons of real-life work piled up so I had no choice but to push this one back until Tuesday. With that out of the way, please enjoy.

Disclaimer:

The following is a fan-based fiction.  Zootopia and its characters are owned by Disney. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artists as well.

* * *

 

(The song Parade by Susumu Hirasawa begins to play)

Chesterization proudly presents

A Zootopia fanfiction

**Parade of Savagery**

 (Song ends)

**Chapter 5: The solution**

“Just you today, officer Fluff?” Judy tried her best to maintain to usual straight face. However, her eyes rolled at his remark.

Remain neutral, she answered his question. “Nick is busy.”

The lynx said, “I see.” He turned back to the one-way mirror. His mind played the same question.  _“Who is listening?”_  For Judy, this was the first time she noticed the scars on his head. The side of her cheek stung for some reason. She was about to touch it, but the return of Kain’s gaze prevented her from doing so. His hands knotted into a mini pyramid. He flashed that sinister grin again. “What’s wrong? Why would the city not on top of his, priority list?” A judgmental look shot itself at her.

Judy’s eyes shifted away from Kain’s. “His mother is not doing well.”

“Ah, classic tale. A son prefers making a different to his mother’s life to making an insignificant dent in the world. My favorite kind of tales” His eyes looked up at the ceiling before releasing his hands. “But do you know what is not my favorite? Lies. Especially those told by rabbits. ” Soon, she refocused her vision on him and stayed still. Kain’s fingers, on the other hand, start started counting themselves. ““I’ll make through this.”; “Your comrades’ sacrifices were not in vain.”; “From the ashes, our nation will be born anew.”; “Things will get better.”; “I am honored to welcome our first fox.” He chuckled. “Change starts with you. It starts with all of us.” Recognized her words, Judy could not help but moved her eyebrows down a little. Kain leaned back in his chair. Hands supported the back of his head. “Aw, that pouty face is the cutest thing I have ever seen.” Her hand gripped tight into a fist. Yet, she instantly released it; reminded herself that she was not here to trade verbal (nor physical blows). Noticed her reaction, Kain toyed with her a little more. “Scratch that, second cutest. Nothing can top Allison’s.”

That line made one word rang in her head.  _“Allison?”_

_Thirty minutes later, at the mysterious warehouse_

Nick, Noira and the rest of the officers had made their way inside. The place was near empty. It seemed that Alisa Pense, the registered owner of the place, or who she really was, had already moved. However, leftover pieces of woods, paint blots, and sprayed paint marks on the floor that said “float’s width; float’s length” had said enough; The ZPD were on the right track. Now, the officers at the scene had only one place left to investigate-a set of huge double doors that led to another room.

Noira made a series of convoluted hand gestures while advancing. The other officers responded to her with nods. Each moved as quietly as they could. Nick, having no idea what she meant, just followed her. Moments later, she pressed her ear against the door. The faint sound of something or someone was there. The wolf gave the doors a push, no result. Someone had wedged a steel chain between the handles and welded them all together. Her index finger pointed at a rhino officer at the scene. “Bust the door.” She said made way for him to do the task.

Just as the rhino about to kick the double doors open, a plea escaped through the gaps. “Don’t do it!” The rhino officer flinched, while his colleagues felt jolts of ill surprise. They stepped back and looked at each other. It was a male voice. “Whatever you do, please, don’t do it!” The officers heard gasps and grunt, followed by, “This place, hah, is rigged with booby traps. It’s gonna blow up.”

Noira shouted. “How did you know? And who are you?”

It took the animal behind the doors a while to answer. Sounds of panting chopped his speech into chunks. “Well, I, I, hah, can see laser pointers, hah, connecting to stuff with, blinking lights. I’m no expert, but those look like bombs from movies. As for the other, hah, hah, I, I, I can’t, think straight right now. Please, help me get out of here. You can, can, ask me all the questions, afterward.”

Noira looked back at the rhino officer. “I’m not buying it. Kick it!” She jerked her head forward

The plea was getting more anxious and frantic in tone. “Please, please, to all the things that are holy, don’t. Please, get me out of here, I’m scared.”

Noira’s fist slammed down on her palm. “Just bust the door.” The rhino was torn between the two voices. Nick’s ringtone came to his rescue. Noira shifted her attention. “Nick! Why didn’t you turn that thing off?”

Nick took out the phone. The caller’s tag made him told Noira. “Shhhh, in a moment”

Noira stomped her foot. “Damn it! It’s like there is no rule in this place!”

Nick answered the phone, only to be bombarded with, “NICK! Oh my god! You are still alive!”

Nick recoiled at the sudden burst of sound. After the slight ringing in his ears had subsided, he said.  “Hey, hey, Carrots calm down. What’s wrong? You sounded like-”

“Nick, it’s a trap! Kain set up a fake lead in the float. Don’t follow it!” Judy’s voice made the rhino decided to give up on kicking the door altogether. He stepped back, all while grunting at Noira. In retaliation, she snarled and showed all her fangs to him. Her burst of aggressiveness shut him up.

Nick paid no mind to any of that. He told Judy. “What? How can you be so sure?”

Judy said, “Kain told me.”

Nick asked, “Kain? He just told you.”

“Just, trust me on this.”

Without apologizing to anyone, Noira told another officer. “Fine, get the bomb squad!”

_Less than 30 minutes earlier, in the Interrogation Room_

Kain said, “So if you have nothing to say or add, I’ll take my leave. Enjoy your three days, starting today. Do what you have to do. I don’t know take the fox out for dinner or something. I don’t care either way.” He shrugged.

As Kain was picking up his crutches, Judy said. “I just want to know. Why, Kain?”

The senile mammal chuckled as his hand detached from the crutch. “Well, the Chief had already asked that. I said, I don’t care, I just want to see the world burn. Quite simple.” He winked at her.

“We both know that’s not the case.”

Kain burst out laughing. The usual authenticity behind his laugh was lacking. “Haha, what are you trying to pull? Building suspense? My dear, I don’t give a flying-“

“I know about your past Kain. I know about the shock collars, I know about the removal act, and I know that this is not your first time in jail.”

In exactly one second, Kain’s face shifted from fabricated amusement to a stern expression, which mirrored Judy. With his fist on the table, he said. “How, how did you know? Where did you get it?” He asked, forgot that he had implied her to be a liar earlier. Maybe the lynx’s wit was not as sharp as he thought. Or maybe he did not expect anyone saying that to him.

Judy wasted no time and got straight to the point. Besides, she knew that everything is being recorded. Should she mention the mayor, it would be ‘inappropriate’. “You used to prevent this kind of thing from happening. Why? Why are you doing all this, Kain? You are supposed to be-”

He said. “The ‘good guy’?” He looked around, trying to find something to escape the conversation. Yet, eventually, someone would now. He was not expecting it to be ‘this’ soon. He cleared his throat. His tone became less snarky. “Officer Hopps, that’s the thing of the past. You know, I was kinda okay with living my life in obscurity. I thought, since I had contributed to the abolition of an atrocity, recognition is not important. As long as everyone holds hands and sings kumbaya, I would be okay with that. Hell, being able to work as a professor is, more than most can hope for.” Judy knew where this was heading, but she let Kain continued. “Considering you are the first rabbit officer, you might already have a firsthand experience. We both know that’s not the case, right?” Judy nodded, though lightly. “You know something is wrong, but, it’s not right.” His arms made a gestured, similar to Judy’s little stage play as a kid. “This is Zootopia, the pinnacle of progressiveness and diversity. There’s no crack in this, right?” He then had a quick look over his shoulder. Then he got closer, the volume of his voice diminished. “I don’t know if you notice this or not. Go to the ice cream parlor near Baobab Street? And you will-”

She interrupted him with a soft tone. “I know Kain, that’s where I meet Nick for the first time.”

The lynx’s head reeled back. “Oh, wow, strange how the universe works, huh?” A thought sparked in his head. “Wait, what were you doing in an ice cream parlor for larger mammals? Have you seen the things they sell? Those scoops would crush you in one go.”

She closed her eyes. “I was part of the problem Kain. I,” Her ears drooped down. She no longer made eye contact with him. “I thought that I was, like the city itself, forward thinking, turned out, not so much. I followed, Nick, because” she sighed. She was confessing this to a criminal, in front of a camera. She should stop. Her mind said so.

Unknown to her, Kain was also looked down at the table. “Have you told Mr. Wilde?” He pulled his head up. “On second thought, keep it, to yourself.” He cracked a smile. It was one without any malicious intent. “Well, didn’t expect you to be like that. I'm surprised.”

Judy looked back at him, not as an officer, but as a citizen of Zootopia. “Kain, I know, you are dissatisfied with the state of things around here. But we can change. Kain, we, can change.”

Kain started clapping; the rhythm of it was slow. He stopped and said. “Hum, right, how many, are, quote unquote we?” Kain paused for a moment, waiting for an answer. It did not come. “If this Night Howler incident has taught me anything, it is the concoction of unchanging, deep-rooted fear and hatred for predators in Zootopia, is alive. Just because we no longer have shock collars, doesn’t mean it’s not there. Just because there are those like you and those who act like you, doesn’t mean it’s not there. It is just got hidden rather well.”

Judy wished to say otherwise, but she had not known many animals that fit this description of “we”.

“It just waits for the perfect opportunity to strike; a moment to show all its ugliness without restraints. And what better way to justify it with “biology” and, well, in this case, chemistry.” He raised his palm. “Not discrediting you, what you have done was great, A plus, top of the class.  But, on contrary to popular belief, the real ‘bad guys’ is not the minority of any group. No, most just like to believe that they are the ‘good guys’. The real ‘good guys’ in the world, are the odd ones out, and that’s not a good thing.”

He was saying something in complete opposite of what Judy was taught. Her first thought was, the lynx was indeed crazy. However, doubt began to seep in through the cracks as he continued. “In the animal kingdom, millenniums ago, the odd ones out, are those who got left behind the pack. They are those who are unfit for survival. So, saying ‘us’ to substitute every mammal in Zootopia, is not very fair, isn’t it?”

His hand made a ‘go on’ gesture. “Do you have a retort? I do not wish to interrupt you. God knows how many times you have been stopped midway by some jackhole.” He let the song of silence play out. The tune lingered for a few minutes. Minutes, that were hours for Judy. Judy had heard something like this somewhere before. And until that day, her answer was still “try and be the change you want to see in the world”. However, she knew that answer would not be enough for this lynx.

“No? Then allow me to continue. That’s not the worst part of it. The thing that bugged me the most about the whole ordeal is. I actually sympathized with the preys.”

_A few minutes later, at the warehouse under the Rainforest District_

Only one explosive expert showed up. He was a tiger, who was a few weeks away from retirement. He was putting a helmet with a camera attached to Nick's head. The fox was protesting with all his might. “C’mon son, don’t question the professional!” said the tiger as he synced up the camera.

Nick pointed at him. “No, I’m questioning why you have a camera in prepared just to pass on the responsible to someone else. Instead of I don’t know, have the tools to do this yourself?”

The tiger pressed his finger on Nick’s helmet. “Son, we are not having this conversation again. I don’t want to be here, either. We are running low on staffs and I can’t get in there. So let’s just make do with what we have. By the time we confirm the other bomb threats to be duds, my team will be here. Now, just go in and do some scouting. I need to know what kind of bomb we are dealing with.”

“But, I’m not an expert, what if I-“

The tiger touched Nick’s shoulder. What came afterward was pure sincerity. “I entrust my life to you, son.” The words began to fill Nick would encouragement and resolve. The tiger turned to the other officers, “You guys might wanna get out. You have so much to lose, I don’t.” There went Nick's determination. The large cat grabbed Nick by the collar and brought him closer to a nearby vent. The feline punched the vent open, making a hole large enough for Nick. Nick was trying his best to get out of his grip while Noira and the rest had left the warehouse. “Blah, stop thrashing. Just do it for the common good.” He tossed Nick inside.

_At the other side of the double doors_

Behind rows of red laser beams, at the center of the room, was a white cat tied up to a chair. His build suggested he was a few years younger than Judy was. Should he be able to stand up, his height would be a few inches below Nick’s. Traces of dirt infested his fur, making it all roughed up. A pair of goggles glued to his face. However, these were for neither protection nor aviation purposes. They were a substitute for traditional glasses.  Animals who worked long hours wore these all the time. The thick soles of his snow boots kept tapping the ground. They produced anxiety-inducing sound on a constant. Sweat damped up the collar of his pizza delivery coat. The hat was nowhere to be found, though.

He was trying to control his breathing and to an extent, himself. The cat had a look around the room he was in for the fifth time. There were the obvious bombs and doors. On the floor were sketches, schematics, and blueprints of machine guns, a remote control steering system for vehicles, a mechanical leg and small devices. There was a map of the city on the wall. On it, a red line stretched from this location to Main Street could be seen.

A rattling sound of metal came from behind him. If he had a tail, it would have stiffened up in terror by then. He then heard Nick’s grunts and complaints. Nick proceeded to kick the vent open from the inside. A spike in sound made the cat winced. After a series of curses coming from the fox, the cat in the chair finally got the gut to say. “Oh, are you, the bomb squad?”

Nick paused two seconds before saying. “Eh, yes.” Afterward, he got on his feet. The fox with caution examined the room, making sure that he would not step on any kind of tripwire. He saw the cat and walked pass him. Nick was sent here to check for the bombs after all. Step by step, Nick moved toward the double doors. Laser beams connected to small devices were inches away from the door. His back stiffened a little. Nick could not imagine what would happen if Judy had not called. He kneeled down and had a closer look. Vials containing red liquid, blinking red lights. No doubt about it, these devices were the same as the one Nick had seen earlier. The tiger’s voice came through Nick’s radio. “Okay, kid, let me have a look at the bombs.” Nick kept his head down, allowed the tiger to see. “Ha, this is some amateur crap. Hell, even you can do it.”

Nick said as he moved backward. “Eh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Once he was at a safe distance, Nick asked. “It is a time bomb?”

The tiger said “From the look of it, no. If we have all the time then I’ll contact Joana. She is a mouse, so she could get this thing done quick.”

Nick asked. “Okay. Then why the hell is she not here?”

“Hey, don’t question the professional.” The tiger then cut off the line.

Silence, once more, for the cat. Assumed that Nick would be there for a while, the cat asked. “So, erm, are we going to be alright?”

Nick turned around and said. “Yeah, definitely.”

The cat breathed in a slower pace. He then spoke in a weak voice. “Oh, that’s a relief, for a moment there, I thought I was dead. Thank you.”

Nick approached him. “You’re welcome. Hey, do you know what happened to you?”

The cat shook his head. “Not much, I was delivering pizza around town yesterday. I passed by this group of mammals wearing hoodies. They were exchanging some kind of blue stuff.” That got Nick’s ears to perk up. “Just as I was about to go and report, someone knocked me out cold. I woke up a while ago and found myself here.”

Nick said. “Where is this group of mammals?”

The cat tried to recall a memory. “They were at the edge of Central Park. It was seven at night, so, it’s kinda shady, I thought-”

Nick interrupted him. “I know what you mean. Save that for the questioning. I’m sorry that you have to go through this. You want me to untie you?”

The cat nodded.

“Okay,” Nick said as he made his way to the back of the chair. “I’m Nick, Nick Wilde.”

“I’m, I’m Endrew, Endrew Peirce.”

_Earlier, at the Zootopia Penitentiary_

Kain continued. “You see, the thing about Political Science is, well, you have to see all the policies, from all the sides. Examine everything at every point of views. Not all opposite sides were either wrong or right. Most of the time, they are beyond murky. And, well, no matter how downright shady some policies may be, everyone, and I mean, everyone, has a reason.” Judy squinted her eyes. She had no idea what direction where he was heading to. “For the preys in the city, well, the idea of shock collars makes sense. At least, that’s how I see it. But, just because it makes sense, doesn’t mean it’s justifiable. THAT, officer Hopps, is what bugs me.” He pointed at her. “I mean, the whole shock collar would be inexcusable if the only different between us predators and preys are," He paused to think. "let’s say the color of our-Nah, bad analogy, let say whether some of us are born with a star symbol on our belly or not. Rather silly, isn’t it?” He shrugged. “But here, Mother Nature had assigned roles for us. One side is designed to kill the other. I mean, no offense, but, if you rabbits could shoot lasers out of your eyes, I will definitely make all of you were shades 24/7. I want to make sure that you would not hurt anyone, even accidentally.” He leaned back again. Hands clasped to each other. “Officer Hopps, have you ever encountered a predator with a clear intention to harm? Minus me, of course. Have you seen how easy and how effortless it is, for them to hurt you?

Those lines, they transformed the heat on her spine to sub-zero chill in mere instances.

“In this logic, discrimination against predators seems justifiable, considering the risks. But such atrocity should not make sense, right?” Judy wanted to nod there. But something told her that was not the point. “Don’t try to answer that. I did, and it did not end well. You would only get yourself hurt.” His wagged his finger. “You might say, we should go against that, change things right?”

Judy, this time jumped in to defend her vision of the world. “That’s the point of Zootopia. We embraced our differences, we make sacrifices for the, greater good.”

Kian commented. “That ‘we’ again. No matter how many times you try to convince yourself, ‘we’ are not that many.” He shook his head. “Before you say it’s risk-free, or the preys should be the ones that make the sacrifices. I have to ask, what makes you think us predators could do no wrong?” Judy was paralyzed. Again, she did not know that many mammals to make her argument seemed, credible. “Okay, let’s do an easy question. Have you learned about Grünwald’s civil war?”

That one was indeed easy. “No?” She tilted her head. “Why?”

“In that case, I’ll give you some contexts. At Grünwald, the predators are those in charge. No that’s too light of a word. No, predators are the dominant species in the nation, despite being the minority in term of population.” He pressed his finger on the table. “Preys were in fear, and they were in line, to serve us. Since all of us are naturally capable of killing them, they have to listen. They farm, they fish, and do whatever they can to please the predators, to stay alive. You should have seen what the cats did with the mice. That was not pretty and downright sadistic.” Judy felt a surge of heat ran along her back. “Well, I’m not part of, ‘them’.” He put his hand on his heart. “Maybe it’s a bias because my predator parents just left me on the streets. All while a prey couple, picked me up, and raised me as their own.” The mentioning of his parents, made an explosion of rage and sorrow went off in his head. Nevertheless, from the outside, he still looked the same. “From these contexts, have you figured out what the war was about? You’re a clever one, so, I trust you.”

He put his hand behind his ear. “But we won, I hear you saying. If that were the case, then why would I go to Zootopia? A city that is marketed as the utopia for all species, in search for an education, in political science?” The lynx sighed. “This is the heartbreaking part.”

 _“There is more?”_  Judy screamed in her head.

“Have you heard of the old saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same”? Generations of prey raised in fear by predators, or vice versa, the same thing. What’s happening here, Grünwald, and everywhere else for generations to come, is bound to repeat in a never-ending Walt, switching from one to the next.”

Judy’s head drooped down. Hearing his words was simply soul-crushing.

Seeing her expression, Kain said, “Don’t be despair, for I have a solution. After years of contemplating, I found out the cause for both cases, and countless of other cases in the past.” He licked his lips, all this teaching in one day was too much for him. “We as animals, look out for ourselves, and only that can we survive. Even when we are in a herds, the thing within our heads is self-preservation. We are taught by our DNA to stick in groups, because, groups yield a higher chance of survival. It’s not for the greater good, it’s just survival. Our brains have very high opinions of themselves after all.” He started to button up his coat, an old habit at the end of each lecture.

“This combination of self-interest and self-preservation is half of the problem. Before, in millennials past, we did this, but only a certain number of the animal were killed. You cannot hunt fast enough, starvation will kill you. You cannot run fast enough, the predator will kill you. And things were in perfect balance, for thousands of years” The last button was done. “Now, a few decades and things get messed up. On top of that, we are facing an energy crisis. If we are so damn smart, then why are there so many problems? We know too much and we have too much.”

“Too much, too much of what?” Judy said.

Kain elaborated. “Too much technology, too much power. A press of a button and bombs are dropped, a signature and generations to come suffer. Yet, with all that advancements, we still think like animals. We look out only for ourselves. We give and make reasons, excuses, to be honest, to justify one thing: “I did this for me”. As long as the reason is for survival or security, we can do all kind of nasty things. With the risk being dwindling resources, our excuses gain more ground. You can spout platitudes all you want, but when you are out of your comfort zone, you will step on each other. The end, justify the mean.” His hand raised up, stopped Judy’s attempt of interruption. “I must remind you. This ‘we’ is different, this we, is all of us.”

Judy said. “But how can you be so sure? You said I was different.”

He leered at her. “Don’t tell me that, the reason Nick is here, with you, is entirely selfless on your part.” He picked up the crutches. “What I was trying to do, is not fixing some kind of racial tension. No, I’m here to deliver a clean sweep of an answer. I planned to reverse us back to animals. Animals, those are too dumb to use power and hurt thousands of generations. Animals, those are too dumb to understand suffering. Think about it. The more thing changes, the more it stays the same. Then, why not revert it back to the original form? If we are animals, then act like it.”

He got out of the chair. “Sadly, since I am behind bars, that answer could no longer be a reality. The world is doomed to repeat the cycle, like an old, rigid yet broken machine.” Kain looked at Judy and delivered his warning. “The best that we could do right now, is making a point. A reminder, a summary, a parade to demonstrate how lost you all are.” He jerked his head, substituted for a shrug. “No hard feelings, it’s just the will of Mother Nature. We defiled it, and we must pay the price.” He made his way toward the wardens waiting outside. The door swung open. Chief Warden Douglas was ready to guide him back to the yard. Kain turned back, one last time. “Thank you for listening. For your effort, I’ll tell you a secret. I purposefully left behind a clue in the float. Should the ZPD chase after that, they would head straight into a nasty surprise.” Malice reared its ugly head from the corner of his mouth once more. “I hope Nick is not the one on the job.”

_Back at the ZPD_

It was fortunate that Nick had forgone the force’s policy on cell phones. Without it, things would have been much worse for everyone. And Judy would have spent hours wondered whether Nick had made it through. It was comforting to him, knowing that after escorting the witness through the usual process, he would see her again. The only thing on his mind was how to calm her down since she sounded like he was dying or something. That was not too far from the truth.

The cat was walking in front of him. The steps were short but quick. His back was constantly slouching. He whispered. “Okay, okay, you got this under control. No, don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about it.” He held on to his stomach.

Nick asked out of concern. “What’s wrong? You look like you are about to, oh.”

The cat made a face while held on to his stomach. “Yeah, I’m sorry, but. I had a few old leftover pizzas from yesterday. And my stomach is cramping. But it’s okay, I’ll perform my duty as a citizen and hold it in. I would not waste your time.” Nick rubbed the back of his head. “Erm, how about we let you use the bathroom first? I mean, the questioning could take hours. don’t want you to, well go through that.” Nick made a whistling sound.

The cat bowed to him. “Okay, thank, thank you. Is there a bathroom for medium to small mammals here?”

Nick was delighted to show him the way. The ZPD prided themselves in adding that facility. They claimed that it would make the workplace more inclusive. The fox pointed.  “Right there, to the left.”

“Thank you. You are a live saver,” said the cat as he rushed forward.

The bathroom door swung open. The first thing the cat did was making sure that the place was empty. Once that information was confirmed, a smirk appeared. He made his way to the button for the handicapped on the wall. With a quick and precise strike from his elbow, the button opened up. The inner working of it was exposed. He then stuck his claw inside a particular section then twisted it. The cat pulled out then gave the door firm pulls. It refused to give way. He took off his boots and laid them on the sink. “Heh, suckers.” whispered to himself as he opened up hidden compartments within the soles of his boot. From his left boot, he pulled out a small multi-tool army knife and a small piece of machine. The other boot was filled with chunks of circuitry attached to a small screen. He gathered all the circuit parts and put them in one pocket of his jeans. His right hand grabbed the knife and took out the screwdriver head. The cat wasted no time and climbed on one of the stalls. He reached his hands up for the vent. One, two, three, four, just like that, the vent was open. In one jump, half of his body was in the ventilation system. The cat climbed up and started crawling.

From his worn jeans, he pulled out his phone. To the untrained eye, this was an obsolete looking flip phone. However, that was what he wanted mammals to think. Other than that, he had good reasons to take the shell and the battery of the biggest flip phone he could find. Big shell meant he could jam all the circuitries and hardware that he wanted. That essentially made the phone more powerful than any smartphone. With the main function of helping him pivot into systems and act as a portable computer, a bigger battery was vital. Besides, this phone could twist its screen to make it look like a handheld camera. He had always wanted one of those as a kid. The giant bulged out camera was beyond useless, so he replaced with a frequency jammer and a transmitter. In short, more tools for him. He opened the map on the phone and followed through with its instruction.

As he was passing by the evidence room, he heard strange moaning. His mind ran a checklist of the possibilities. Nevertheless, the word “Harder” was more than enough for his imagination. He did not bother to look through the vent, instead, thought.  _“Eugh, the city is about to go to up in flame, and they are boning. Zootopia’s finest indeed. Okay, forget about them, Alex. You are on a mission.”_  The cat’s crawling journey stopped at the vent above Chief Bogo’s office. He had a peek down. The buffalo was writing reports on his computer. On the screen, a window with the interrogation room video was there. The cat took a few inches back, avoided being seen. He pulled out the pieces of machine in his pocket and began assembling. His fingers were nimble, yet accurate. It was as if building machines had becomes second nature to him. In seconds, a device started to take shape. Still, the surrounding close-space was making him losing his concentration.  _“By God, why do I have to do this? Kain is chilling in prison, while Allison_ _does_ _pretty much jack. Why do I always have to do all the hard work? Nope, just_ _gets_ _it over with. It’s almost over.”_  He clasped the last pieces together. All the circuitries were now a device. He turned the device on then stuck it on the side of the vent. He put his phone close to the device, waited for both to start synchronizing. The cat’s fingers typed in some form of commands, demonstrated by lines of coded messaged.

After a few seconds, he pressed the center button on the D-pad. His eyes flashed when the screen on the device changed to: “Linking process completed.” He crawled backward and made his way back to the bathroom. In a few minutes, he was back at the original bathroom. The cat climbed down, closed up the vent, and tightened the bolts. He jumped and landed silently on his feet. “Hum, that was easy.” He complimented, giving himself a quiet high-five. Returned to the sink, Alex inserted the knife back in his boot then put both back. A sigh of relief left his mouth as he turned on the sink. “This is the way we wash our paws, fa la la.” The cat sang, rather ironically (and terribly). When the fur on his hand was wet and clean enough, he splashed some onto his face. Usually, cats would recoil and freak out at the sudden coldness. It must be one of the advantages of being a cat originated from an island halfway across the world. Alex took off the goggles then washed away the dirt and sweat on his face. Once he had semi-dried himself with a rock star’s headbang, Alex looked at himself in the mirror. The thinning of the fur under his eyes was getting worse. Still, he gave himself a smile and said. “Jack Savage, still ain’t got nothing on you.” Bid the reflection farewell with a wink, the cat headed back to the button for the handicapped. 

Outside, the bathroom door swung open. Alex said while stretching. “Whew, that was a relief, sorry for keeping you waiting.”

Nick, who had just got off the phone with Judy, said, “It’s fine.”

Alex checked the clock on the wall.  He held his temple tight. “Oh god, I’m late for work. My boss is going to kill me.”

Nick just shrugged at it. “I’m sure that he would give you some leeway. And if a guy doesn’t forgive you when you are taken a hostage, maybe it’s time for you to look for a new job.”

Alex scratched his chest. “Yeah, easy for you to say. Try getting a part time job as a cat in this town.”

Nick frowned at his respond. “I’m a fox officer. Anything is possible in Zootopia.”

“Ha, I’m literally, not holding my breath.” Nick was surprised to see the shift in attitude. One bathroom break could change a mammal, it seemed. “So, do I need to fill in anything? I got stuff to do.”

Nick said, “Yes. Standard paperworks. Your information may prove valuable to the case.”

Alex said, “Sure, I’ll help. Promise me that you will catch whoever the hell is responsible for this.”

Nick said before guiding him to the officers for questioning. “You can have our words.”

_A few more hours, outside of the ZPD station_

Alex was finally released. A few officers had given him an offer on witness protection program. He declined, claiming that it would only waste taxpayer money. However, we all know what the real reason was. The cat then headed home.

He took out his phone and called up his boss. After a few rings, he said, “Yeah, yup, this is Endrew.” He paused, “You know, Endrew Feline Pierce,” then sighed, “the Pussycat. Yeah! What about me? I quit.” He counted his fingers as he walked. “Why? Oh, let see, eh, your work place’s condition is horrible. You call me and the other employees with mean names on a frequent. Overwork and under pay. You are lucky that I didn’t sue. So long, oh, and you can shove that-“ The boss hung up. “Hello? Dang it, doesn’t even have the audacity to take a rant.” The phone left the side of his ear. “Oh well, he’ll go bankrupt at the end of this week anyway.” He took a deep breath.  _“Forget about the moron, you have a parade to organize. Why the hell does Kain keep using that metaphor, I never know.”_  He took off his pizza delivery coat and gave it to a homeless horse that happened to sit nearby. “Happy holiday,” he said before got back on his way. The absent of the coat cooled his body significantly. A gust of wind came and helped dry his University of Zootopia’s Robo-Riot shirt somewhat.

Shortly after, Alex reached a crossroad. His phone started to ring. He answer the phone, not before applying pressure to the button on the traffic light. “Hello?” He made a smile. “Hey, Allison, how ya doing?” His head bobbed side to side before saying, “Yeah, it went off without a hitch. I told you that all those months at the pizza joint would pay off. And of course, your little touches made it the more convincing.” He pressed on the traffic light button, repeatedly this time. “Yes, I know, I know, I’ll tap into it tonight. No worries. I will get the Angels mobilized. Craps are going down first thing tomorrow.” He slammed on the button. The light refused to change made him said. “Hold on a minute.” Alex took a few steps back, getting himself out of the traffic camera’s line of sight. Then, he twisted the phone into its handheld camera mode and aimed the transmitter at the light. He pressed a few commands and made the light changed. All while temporarily disabled the camera. He should have been more patient, for the light would have changed in a few seconds anyway.

Alex crossed the street. The cat did not even bat an eyelid when a car crashed into the tail end of another. He continued talking. “What have I done? What have I done? Something much less horrible comparing to your,” The back of the car exploded. Animals surrounded the area began to rush to the scene, to take pictures and posted them social media. With swift, Alex removed himself from the scene. “Okay, similar caliber now.”

He turned to an alleyway. “Hey, I only target preys. Those can barely kill me, let alone actually do harm.” Before he knew it, he reached his destination. It was a beyond rundown electronic store. The place did not even have a sign to call its own. The shelves inside were either empty or occupied by dust-covered fax machines and landline phones. The only thing somewhat modern about the place was the main door with a passcode lock. The cashier machine’s power had long gone and so was the intention to make a profit. The cat needed not worry about the shop. It was not his after all. Instead, it was the property of his ‘friend’, who happened to be the prince of the Savannah. Until that day, Alex was amazed at how many animals would fall for that trick.

He pressed the password and opened up the door. He was still talking on the phone. “Yeah about that. Hey, Allison, you’re sure that, the whole ‘Revolution’ will be done quick, right?” He got in then locked the door.  “No, it’s just, you can do it just fine. It just. I just wanna get Gunther out then finish the whole thing in one go.” That line prompted the other mammal to go on a long rant. Alex, valued efficiency above all else, used the time to unlock the door led to the basement. He got down the stairs. “Yes, I know, he is your father.” Frustrated by the doubt, he raised his volume. “Hey! What is that supposed to mean? What, just because I’m not his children, doesn’t mean I don’t care for the guy.” He reached the last step. The basement at that time was a mass of darkness. Alex quickly defused his rage. “Haiz, whatever, I’m home. I’ll connect the device shortly, okay? Are you happy?” His hand tried to feel for the switch. “Yeah. See ya.” He said, before turning on the lights.

The basement was a direct contrast to the shop above. Probably because there was a fortress made of computers, laptops and electronic hardware that could only be found from the darkest corners of the black market and the Internet. Next to the keyboards were dozens of thumb drives and CDs with numbered labels on them. Although the basement was not perfectly tidy, it was much more organized. Nothing was out of place. All the blueprints and schematics were gathered on one desk. Some of them were strained by the brown shade of coffee. At one corner of the basement was a small cupboard containing cups, bottles of pills and bags of coffee. On top of it lied the coffee machine, a syringe, and a few tranquilizer darts. The syringe had a strip of paper label around it, which said “Allison’s compound no.43.” Beside the cupboard was another desk. On top of it was a fish tank connected to an elaborate system of tubes and water containers placed near a sink. Inside, the small meal fish swam into one corner, hiding from Alex’s gaze. There was a workbench down here as well. A thick white veil covered a machine that the cat was working on. Whatever was under it, it took most of the space on the workbench. Under the bench was a small safe locked with a passcode. There was also a clothes rack, which helped him managed seven different uniforms, all for seven different companies. Among those ordinary attires was a peculiar set of clothing. It consisted of a white jacket and pant. Both had golden strips of fabric helmed into various parts. On the back of the jacket was a black wheel emblem with a wing. Down at the base of the rack, was a white mask, decorated with eyes patterns.

Alex approached the coffee machine, prepared himself some ‘nature’s energy drink’. He kneeled down, took one cup and one bottle of pills. He opened the cap, put in a small white pill in his cup then drowned it in coffee. He shook the cup gently in a circular motion, waited for the pill to dissolve. Hesitated for a few second, he proceeded to drink its content. After a few gulps, the bottom of the cup slammed on the cupboard. Alex held his mouth, tried not to puke from the bitterness. His hand reached out to the fish tank while he tried to finish the rest of the coffee. Usually, he just needed to reach down and got himself a fresh snack. However, that day, the fish, swam in unison and avoided his fingers. The empty dampness made him look. Put down the cup, he put his focus on to the tank. The fish’s ‘Paw of Judgment’ reached down a few more times. Just like before, they avoided it. “Hum, these things started to learn. Impressive”, Alex whispered to himself. His hand left the water and immediately went for a nub on one of the tubes. The water level began to fall as the container from below started to fill up. He stopped when the tank was half-full. The fish no longer swam as one. Instead, they panicked, each tried their best to reach and stay at the bottom of the tank. Most would slap and push the other fish up as a result. Alex then casually scooped up the fish at the top with his empty coffee cup.

With his brain energized with coffee, prescription drug and a cup full of snack, he got to his desk and turned on the computers. He plugged his phone in and rewarded his effort with one squirming fish. Once the fortress was activated, he logged into a server of an online game call Blood and Souls. He took the control of his character, which was a lynx in white and golden armor, carrying a giant metal wheel. His screen name was “Ophanim”.

He got into an empty battlefield where two other characters were waiting. One was a lion with a great sword called “Seraphim”. The other, a tiger with a pair of great shields that looked like wings called “Cherubim”. He started chatting with the other characters by typing. From the outside, it looked as if they were discussing preparations for an in-game raid. Once the details had been passed on, the Seraphim typed.  _“Summon the angels and let’s get the raid started.”_

Just as the Cherubim was about to do just that. A message appeared on the screen. It said. “Your party is being invaded by XxXEgdelord420XxX”

Alex typed.  _“Guys, what the hell? I thought you made this one private?”_

The Seraphim typed.  _“Sorry, forgot about that, just get rid of him for now.”_

Alex’s character wasted no time to kick the invader (a dual-wielding katana wolf in black armor) down on the ground. Just as he was crushing the invader with his wheel in a blunt and brutal fashion, the Cherubim was picking up what looked like glowing stones on the battlefield. Another message appeared. “Summoning 17 players from the Angels clan.”

When the invader was vanquished and the other characters had shown up, Alex opened a different window on one of his screens. Said window contain more strings of code and encrypted messages. Alex popped his knuckles and said, “So many terminals to burn, so little time.”

* * *

 

Author note:

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me the motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to update these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is one of my first stories so please forgive possible mistakes in the future and help me fix them.

Thanks again and have a pleasant day.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Before we start:**

I'm so sorry for the long delay. Real life strikes back one more time. I did not want to rush the chapters like the last time, so I took my time with this one.

**Acknowledgement:**

I would like to thank ADeadMissionary for helping me edit this chapter. You can check out his profile and story at your own leisure.

**Disclaimer:**

The following is a fan-based fiction. Zootopia and its characters are owned by Disney. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artists as well.

* * *

(The song Parade by Susumu Hirasawa begins to play)

Chesterization proudly presents

A Zootopia fanfiction

**Parade of Savagery**

(Song ends)

**Chapter 6: A Perfect Day**

_At one of Zootopia's largest malls_

In an iCarrot store, a gazelle in his twenties was preparing for opening hours. There was still one thing left for him to do before opening the door. It was a personal ritual he hoped _no one_ found out about. Curling his fingers like claws, he then furiously scratched the iCarrot symbol on his blue shirt. Days like these, the herbivore felt grateful to be a prey. If there were claws on his fingers, there would be a lot more explaining to do. Even after six months at work, he could not get used to the uniform. The only way for him to cope was to satisfy the itch before hand. He thought as long as his skin was numb, he could keep those product-selling smiles as natural as possible. In the business of selling overpriced products, customers always demanded that _compensating_ smile. When his skin began to burn, the itch subsided. He could finally get the shop open.

He was exhausted from a night of binge-playing Blood and Souls. As a result, the gazelle needed three pulls to get the door to slide up. The door made that all too familiar slamming noise again. His mind described the sound as the gravel of despair for the middle-class. "Shit, I have become my gamer tag," he told himself before returning to his counter, what he dubbed as his 'prison cell' with affection. He accessed his computer. He switched on the electronic price tags.

The only product in the store were smartphones displayed on pedestals that varied from plain to just strange. All the devices looked the same, but, for some reason, their price gaps were humongous. Whatever, what do I know about technology? I'm just an old female who lives near the edge of the city.

After the numbers had appeared on tiny screens, the gazelle moved to the center of the store. Getting in the standard 'battle stance', he armed himself with that scripted smile. His eyes leered down. They caught something. He could not help but squint his eyes at the tags. His skinny hoof pulled a smartphone out of his pocket, identical to the ones surrounding him. He tapped the number for the mall's manager, "Eh, sir, there is a problem."

"What now?" asked the animal on the line.

"All the price tags, are wrong, sir," the gazelle said.

"Off by a few numbers again? See, this is why I don't trust computers. But no, you iCarrots snobs were all like ' _the future is now'_."

Annoyed by his mocking tone and remark, yet the gazelle maintained his professionalism. "Yes, but, this time, they are way off."

"By how much?"

He had a look around the store. "Well, from the look of it, I can buy the entire mall with the salary you guys gave me."

"Oooooh, I see. You cheeky bugger, you're asking for a raise, aren't you?"

"No, boss, not at all. With these price tags, the products are practically free."

The other line went quiet for a moment then followed with a "WHAAAT?"

"Can you delay the opening hour? We need to fix this before-"

"I can't, I just opened- Argh! Goddamn it!"

_At the mountain range far away from the city of Zootopia_

Judy parked her rented car near the lodge at the foot of the mountains. The two-seat minivan looked like a lonely, giant ladybug in the empty parking lot. Not many animals would visit the mountain on a weekday, it seemed. The bunny was the first to get out of the car. Her clothes were the same as her first day in Zootopia. She looked up at the sky. The sun was shining. The clouds floated gently by. Things were neither too hot nor cold. It was one of those rare autumn days. She opened her arms, allowed the calm and gentle breeze to pass by. Her face was sparkling with joy; a far cry from the day before. If anything, with that expression, she looked exactly like her first day in the city.

Nick stepped out of the car. The fox tried to sniff in some of that fresh air, only to receive the hideous plastic scent of bandages. Something stung and made him rubbed the side of his snout. The imaginary coal inside was still burning. Judy turned her head towards him, prompting the fox to put his hands behind his back. During his and Judy's 'reunion', she bumped her head into his snout during an attempted embrace. She had spent enough time apologizing to him the night before. He did not wish to make her feel guilty, especially when she was back to her usual cheery self.

Looking at the colossus of a mountain before him, Nick could not help but ask, "Judy, so, eh, what are we doing here?"

She opened up the trunk. "We," she took out two backpacks filled with energy drinks and emergency supplies, "are going to hike that mountain."

Perplexed, Nick said. "Oh…Okay? You know. This is not what I had in mind when you said 'a little outing'." He flexed his fingers in a set of air quotes.

She tossed one of the backpacks at him. The thing looked more like an oversized fanny pack to him. "Well, it's too late to back out now. You can always hitchhike your way home. No matter what happens, I'm going to the peak."

He extended the straps and put the pack on. "Sure, but if I drop halfway in, you have to carry me home."

"Pft, no problem." She sprinted forward. In her excitement, she forgot to close the trunk. Fortunately, Nick was there to take care of that. From a distance, she shouted. "Let's go, ya lazy popsicle hustler!"

With one hand scratching the top of his dome, a thought ran through his head. " _What has gotten into her today?"_

_At the Zootopia Penitentiary_

An obsolete TVs mounted on the wall was showing the news. On it were moving images of animals shoving, pushing and trampling on each other. In that mix of visual were sprinkles of statics. A snow fox inmate was watching the scene unfold. Dread and confusion flowed in his mind in equal measure. The violence was not what made him concerned. He had seen more visceral and dramatic images from regular entertainment. No, what they were holding onto while committing such atrocities was bothering him. The mammals in the shots were fighting over scraps of clothing, boxes of cosmetics, and shiny electronic devices. They fought as if those commodities were essential to their survival.

Someone turned the TV off, unannounced. "Brother, try this." A lynx's hand placed a novel called Peace and War on the fox's lap. From the look of it, the book was older than the fox himself. "I know it's long, but it's worth your time more than the tube." The fox looked up and met Kain's satisfied smirk. "Going to a library to watch TV? It kinda backward, don't you think?" He wanted to ask the lynx one question, but he was too afraid to. Kain was the first mammal that treated everyone here with respect. He did not wish to insult the books that Kain valued so much. "Don't be intimidated. It's gonna take you 32 hours, tops. My student spent two weeks on Blood and Souls. That was 50 hours of his life he is not going to get back." Kain had just answered that question for him.

The fox said. "Eh, I, I'll read it."

Kain pondered. "Hum, not your cup of tea huh? How about some lighter reads over there?" His index finger pointed toward a rotten bookshelf. The thing crumbled as soon as the fox registered its location. The drop sprayed thin books all over the flooring. "Hum, goddamn shelves with comedic timing." Kain had a look at another shelf. "Well, how about-"

The fox shook his head. He clutched on to the book. He told Kain in this weak voice, "No, I'll try, thank you for the, erm, suggestion, mister Schoche."

"You'll welcome." Kain tipped an invisible hat.

While the fox was sinking his teeth into the new book, Kain had a look at his new world. Thanks to the effort of his 'brothers' and permission from the Warden, the dust around the library had gone. Still, it did not look as spectacular as he had hoped. The wallpaper still looked like decaying flesh. The uncanny resemblance still gave Kain grim reminder of his days in the trenches. The shelves were all moments away from collapsing (as demonstrated). Chairs (at least functional ones) were in short supply. Some bigger predators made the sacrifice and sat on the floor. Kain smiled at the sight. Something about any mammals on the floor with books in their hands was just amusing to him. A few predators were trying to move some shelves around. Whoever designed this library had not expected these many mammals to occupy the place. Kain looked at the corners of the library. The four pillar wardens, as Kain put it, were there. There were Chief Warden Douglas, his trusty mountain goat companion, and two white wolves. All maintained their authority with that stern look in their eyes. Outside, more of the wardens were waiting, watching. All dressed in riot gears. Their fingers near the triggers. Kain made eye contact with one standing outside of the glass door. The elephant glared at him and expected the lynx to break contact. Kain disappointed him by making a salute instead. He then headed into the book club within the library.

About seventeen predators (including Koslov) were on the floor. They gathered in a circle around an inmate named Sparky. Sparky was a jaguar that volunteered to be the coordinator of the prison's book club. The predator had told Kain that he had a Ph.D. in Literature, therefore best suited for the task. Kain did not question how and why a mammal like him would end up in a place like this. Instead, he just gave Sparky a handshake and told him, "Do as thou wilt."

That day, Sparky was allowed to show off his undershirt and wear a bandana. His voice was so rough that the other inmates asked him to cough out that nasty snot on a regular basis. The jaguar started the first discussion of the day and the club in general. "Alright, you rep ballers. For the first meeting of our book club, we'll talk about the epic of Gilgamesh. My man."

Koslov was the first to ask. "What the hell is it about?"

Sparky closed one of his eyes. "What it is about? G, it's about the baddest and meanest gangster around the dawn of civilization, Gilgamesh the king of Uruk. This tiger is so G that he'd ghost his own warriors, swipe blings from folks, mate with others' females just because he can. And ain't nobody swings a bigger d-"

Kain's hand clasped on Sparky's shoulder. "Eh, brother, we have just gained some favors with the wardens. So you might want tone the, em, 'language' down a bit. Don't want them to think we are up to-"

Sparky turned around, frowned in annoyance. "For real? What kind of crazy ass logic is that? What the hell happen to: 'Do as thou wilt'?" Sparky made a mocking tone at the last one. "We are talking about a tale where the dude and his bro ghost things left and right like it's ain't no thang. And what about Moby Dick? Do I have to censor the D for that too?"

Kain scratched the back of his bald head. "No, that's fine. It's in the- Someone like you should know how contexts of things work."

"Yeah, I know. And I say it's a crack ass idea when a word for a natural body part got on the wardens' nut, while killing is not."

"Just go with the flow, brother. Just go with it, for now."

"Whatever, I'm still not gonna censor myself."

Kain just grinned. "Defiance, I like that. Do as you will then."

Sparky spat at him. "I WAS! Hop off my nuts, man!"

Kain turned to the rest of the predators. "Enjoy your time here. It's just like any old club." He shrugged, "Well, minus the debauchery." The predators chuckled at that one. Kain let out a smirk as well. It was not because of the joke. He had heard 'civilized' folks claimed predator prisoners to be ignorant of such a word. Kain continued, "Make no mistake, this is not a church. If you guys behave, I can convince the wardens to give us some beer." They burst out laughing. However, before the laugh track could last long, a boar behind Kain brought back the silence.

Without turning his head, Kain asked. "Why the hell are you always standing behind my back?"

Chief Warden Douglas said, "Bogo is here, again. And he looks pissed."

Kain groaned, "By God, he should really stop blaming me for all his troubles."

_Later, back in the same old interrogation room_

Kain looked at the bulged out vein on the side of Bogo's head. "Yes, Chief? What seems to be the problem this time?"

The Chief closed his eyes. His smile deprived of humor. "Oh, you should know."

Kain shrugged. "I'm sorry, Bogo. I may have a Ph. D., but that doesn't mean I know everything."

Bogo slammed his fist on the table. This time, he dented the thing. Through gritted teeth, he said, "You said you would not cause any trouble for three days." Bogo pointed at the one-way mirror. "Things are going out of control out there. Turn on the news and you will see."

Kain wagged his finger. "Ah ah ah, I said there won't be any- listen carefully, my boy-"

Bogo screamed at him. However, the Chief quickly contained his violent outburst.

Remaining calm, Kain continued. " _Savage attacks._ What's happening outside?" He tilted his head, then presented a mischievous grin. "Looks pretty civilized to me. I thought you defined 'savage' as going on all fours and prowling for blood. You know, like natural predators." The Chief brought down his other fist. The sound caught the attention of the wolf warden outside. Kain tried his own way to calm the buffalo down. "Besides, I am here, so how can I cause troubles of such caliber?" Bogo's eye widened. He took noticed of the dents on the table. It sure would be the last day for that table. The Chief slowed down his heart rate. He reminded himself that the camera was still rolling. "But that doesn't mean I don't know who is behind all this." Kain's words made Bogo's spine stiffen.

The Chief forced himself to say. "I guess I need to keep quiet for a few seconds while you 'enlighten' me on that?"

Kain applauded. "Oh yes, you got it." He pondered, pretended to rack his memory. "I know them rather well. 19 good-for-nothing mammals thinking that the root of all evil is money." Kain forced a chuckle. "How typical. As you can see, we are nothing alike. I say the root of all evil is us. Those little brats need a lesson about taking responsibility." He pointed at Bogo. "You know, when your city is under attack from two different radical ideologies, maybe it's time for you to do a little reflection."

Bogo grabbed the edge of the table and reached his head forward. "Stop changing the subject. WHO! ARE! THEY!?"

"Not so fast, my boy. This is a negotiation, Ne-go-si-a- _sien,_ " he pronounced the last syllable in his native accent. "You need to give me something in return."

Bogo rubbed his forehead, trying to reduce his migraine. "What do you want now?"

Kain spent some time thinking about that. His body had a clear answer. His back was screaming at him. Ever since his little 'showdown' with Nick, the soreness had taken hours of sleep from him. His body cried out for painkillers or anything that would allow him to ignore the pain. Kain acknowledged it, then proceeded to completely ignore it. "My brothers, the wardens and I want to renovate the prison library. But, Chief Warden Douglas said-"

A loud, frustrated "Arghhh" from the boar could be heard. The sound echoed from the other end of the prison. Kain continued, "What the hell is up that guy's fanny? Anyhow, he said since you like to underfund the prison and its staff, that would be... difficult." Kain then pondered. "I want nothing, so, may as well give the library the money it deserves."

Bogo did not know what to say to that besides, "Kain, what are you doing?"

He made an ear-to-ear grin. "What we all do, Bogo; whatever makes us happy."

Bogo's rage diffused itself. "But, but, but you said you want to-"

"I said 'we', as in my associate and me. Since I'm stuck here, so I cannot do anything else." Kain snapped his fingers. Then he directed his index finger at Bogo. "The parade is over for me. She is your problem now."

"I don't understand."

"And no one is forcing you to. I'm an old coot, remember?" Kain shrugged, per usual, "What do I know, right? I'm just a, erm, _savage prisoner_ , like everyone else in this place." He bowed the buffalo. "Have a good day, Bogo." Kain turned his head, yelled. "Warden Markov, I wish to return to the library." The white wolf from the outside entered the room. He gave Kain a nod. As the wolf was escorting the lynx back to the library, Kain told the Chief. "Until the city coughs up the money for our library, the cyber attacks from the twats will continue. Just give the Chief Warden a call."

_10 AM that day, within the city_

Alex got out of his electronic store. The fur under his eyes and the sides of his head were thinner than the day before. He had been staying up all night: coding; drinking pills with coffee; performing genocide on microwaveable fish; taking control of 364 terminals. He popped the knuckles on his hands then reached his arms out for a stretch. His back and wrists were killing him.

After the stretch, he looked up at his limited view of the sky. It was a clear and sunny day, a rare occurrence for him. Alex took a deep breath, taking in the moldy-back-alley stench. "Ah, such a beautiful day! Now let's ruin it by looking at what's wrong with the world." He pulled out his phone and checked the news. As he exited the alley, Alex said, "Ha, I am what's wrong with the world."

Later, the cat arrived at the nearest pharmacy. He swore that he had been to this place more than the supermarket. Considering how thin he was, that was the truth. The place was empty that day. Usually, it would be packed with animals of different sizes by then. Clueless and exhausted mammals that looked for chemicals that would make them feel 'normal'. Alex, on the other hand, was different. He always looked for chemicals that allow him to surpass his 'normal' performance. At least that was what he told himself.

The cat moved toward the counter with confidence. He climbed on the counter then slammed a small sheet of paper on the glass. Alex pressed the bell with his foot. The clinky sound demanded the giraffe pharmacist's attention.

Seeing the empty brown eyes behind those goggles made the giraffe say, "Holy hell, you again?"

He answered smugly, "Yeah, I'm like the pop-up ad on your computer. No matter what happens, I always come back." He slid the paper across the counter. On his face was a practiced smile. "Here's the doctor's order, as usual."

The giraffe took the prescription. Usually, He would double check everything before heading to the back. However, he had seen the same prescription frequent enough to make exceptions for Alex. The mammal came back a few minutes later. An orange bottle of pills was in one hand. Alex reached his right hand out. His left armed with a credit card. In a moment, he looked like an addict, eager to get his fix. The giraffe withdrew the bottle. "What kind of doctor are you seeing?'"

Annoyed, Alex wiped the smile away. "I don't freaking know. Have a problem? Contact the guy. Numbers on the paper." Reluctant, the giraffe gave Alex the credit card machine and put the bottle down. The cat tapped his card on it, waited for a beep before typing in his pin number. Once the transaction was done, he snatched the bottle. "Thanks." He told the giraffe.

Seeing those glimmers of desire, the giraffe said. "After this, I think I will."

Alex tried to steer the subject away from the freshly printed prescription. He looked around the store. "Kinda empty today huh?"

"Yeah, have you seen the news? Folks are flooding the malls like crazy. It's like a warzone out there."

Alex just laughed it off. "You know me. I'm too distracted to notice anything. That's why I need the pills. Well, have a good day and see you soon." He saluted before jumping down.

Alex walked out of the pharmacy and pulled out his phone. The bony fingers typed in commands to sync up his second account. Like always, thoughts ran wild in his head.

" _You will huh? No, you won't. You always say that. But as soon as you go in the can and take care of your business, you will forget about me. Why should you care about a random stranger? You are too busy with your mediocre and pointless life. You got bills to pay, mouths to feed, shows to watch, and one brain to rot. Why should you care about an immigrant from bum freaking Hon Dao?"_

The second account was the number printed on all of his prescriptions. Alex waited to be proven wrong. He did not know what was worse. Knowing that it would never happen, or hoping that it would. Hope, it just made reality harder for him to swallow. He stared blankly at the screen. After a good three minutes, he snickered. "Ha, what did I say? No call."

Alex reconnected his first account. He had a few emails. They belonged to the Angels. From the messages, they wanted to start spreading all the information to the internet. Of course, they would need Alex to distract the trackers and overloading the servers. Alternatively, he would call it 'the hard part of every operation'. The worst part of being the third in command was having too many responsibilities, yet not enough power to call the shots. Alex consoled himself by saying 'it won't be long'. He popped his knuckles than headed back to the electronics store. "All right, let's ruin a few more illusions before lunch." He received another message. It was a duplicate of Bogo s latest email. Finished reading it made Alex stomp his foot. "Oh come on! Not THAT soon!"

_8PM. Within the city, at an internet café named Rapture_

The place had closed sooner than usual. Strange, considering how popular the cafe usually was around that time. Many students liked to go there, all with the intention of escaping their regular lives. There was a strip of paper taped to the door. It said, _Closed for 2 weeks because of reasons._

The doors might be closed, the lights might be off, but the place was not empty. Just like Alex's store, there was a basement filled with black market hardware as well. The only difference was that this basement was ten times larger than Alex's. In the center of it was a large table filled with food and beverages. At that point, there were nineteen mammals in the basement. All wore white and golden yellow attires. White masks with different patterns covered their faces. The odd puff of wool here and there identified them all as sheep.

The one with the shiniest mask was standing in front of collections of large computer screens. His mask's design suggested that he was a Seraphim. His eyes were glued to the screen displaying news from various web pages.

One of them had a headline that said: 'The Uni corporation's algorithms leaked.' The article elaborated on the corporation's extraction of personal data from social media sites and how they utilized the data for personal gain by pushing advertisements on certain demographics. Underneath, there was a photo of a tagline. It read 'You are nothing but a number to them', signed by a winged symbol.

Another one read 'Leaked: Charity drive used donations for personal gains'.

And another, 'Bug Burger purposely ignores contaminant for profit'.

The rest of the headlines were showing the leaks that the Angel's clan had released. Those articles proved the building blocks of Zootopia to be far uglier than floats in a parade.

A female sheep, the one they call 'Cherubim,' approached Seraphim. "Should we start this without Orphanim?" she asked.

Seraphim said, "I don't think he would come today. You know the guy, he doesn't like crowds."

One of the sheep from the background said, "We don't either, so what's his excuse?"

Seraphim turned around, "Well, he was on fire yesterday with those infiltrations. I'm pretty sure that he is passed out on his desk right now."

Cherubim nodded. "True, I'll give him the leftovers once we're done.'

The leader then moved to the table, announced. "Angels!" That caught the attention of everyone in this basement. "The operation was a success." He then pointed at the screens behind him. "Have a look at the world outside. What we have done is more than just breaking in a few terminals or leak company secrets. What we have done has crippled the hand of the puppet masters." The sheep nodded. "We dragged mammals from the dark pit that is their prison and forced them to see the light. Let the divine light of God and Truth burn their sinful eyes." A few of the sheep yelled _Yeah!_ Seraphim continued. "Sure, now they are in disarray and in fear. But once they are used to the light, they will be reborn anew. Not as savage animals, but as divine beings. Creations molded from the universal concept of justice, wisdom, and truth." He grabbed a glass while taking off his mask. "This is the time to celebrate, Angels. But it is not the time for us to rest, for the task is-"

That was when the sound of a police battle-ram crashed through the café's front doors. Seraphim and his sheep froze when they heard Bogo's voice. "This is the police! Come out with your hands in the air!"

A few minutes later, the 'Angels' were escorted to ZPD's vehicles. Their masks were torn away, allowing the world to see their utterly average faces. Blocked by police barricades were hundreds of bystanders. Among them was Alex, hiding from his former associates' view. Alex kept his silence while the others were chatting. Their voices were filled with disgust and anger. The cat could not care less about what they had to say. The sound was making him anxious and he wanted it to end. He covered his ears so he could hear himself think.

" _Heh, good riddance. Those jerk-offs were really starting to get on my nerves. 'Puppet masters', huh? Yeah, keep telling yourself that. There is no master. The masses are always at fault. As long as you keep telling the masses "Oh, it's not your fault, it's the 'big mammal' that pulls everyone's strings," they would never see their, let me quote you, 'sins'. You are the reason why the atrocities within our world keep escalating. We can do anything we want. As long as the fault is someone else's, everything's a-okay. Screw you. I hope you get your taste of hell in jail before Alison's little project kicks in. Oh crap, I forgot."_

Alex opened his backpack and dug his hand in. Brushing away the machines and gadgets, he took out an empty Polar Cola bottle. The police had taken the last Angel out of the café. It was now or never for Alex. The cat did not bother zipping his back. He stood up and got himself in a pitcher stance. Took in a large gulp of air, "Those are the jackholes that made this mess, GET THEM!" he shouted.

Alex did not expect what happen next. Something flung itself at the sheep calling himself Seraphim. A half-full whiskey bottle crashed into the sheep's head. Pieces of simmering glass pierced the wool on his head. Soon, the glass and the nearby wool were soaked in red and amber-colored liquid. The alcohol burned its way into the wounds, making the sheep shriek in agony. Alex was stunned. For a moment, he hesitated. Was that sympathy he was feeling? Or was it fear?

The world around him gave the cat no time to determine the answer. Soon, a can of energy drink went flying, then followed by pots of plants coming from a nearby shop. The Angels and the police took a few hits. Soon, animals kicked away the police barriers and headed straight toward the Angels. Alex could not see what was going on through the mob of taller mammals blocking his view. However, judging from the dirty and damp sound of something being broken, he was sure that some Angels would definitely go to Heaven that night. More and more animals were streaming toward the cluster of police cars. As always, Alex took a different path from everyone else. He was getting away from the chaos. "Huh, may the one without sin cast the first bottle." He whispered to himself before tossing his unused bottle into a nearby recycle bin.

He then tried to find a ZNN News van; that was the second purpose of this trip after all. He soon realized his oversight. The van was on the other side of the toxic concoction of blood, fists and loud chanting of violence. Alex cursed under his breath and took a turn at a crossroad. He was heading towards 4th Avenue. _"God damn it! Should have double-checked. Okay, let's go home and rethink our options."_ He thought. Alex took out his phone and ran through his checklists. So far he had crossed out some nefarious things like infiltration, planting bugs and betrayal. An empty tick box made him slapped the side of his head. "Oh crap, I forgot to pick up the fish on 2nd Ave."

_Around 5 PM, back at prison library_

The inmates had created a makeshift stage at the center of the place. It was a fancy way for them to describe a wooden crate. Kain knew that the act of reading would become boring to new readers after a certain amount of time. Seeing how time was something they had an abundance of, he had to find new ways to keep everyone occupied. It was a suggestion from Sparky. The jaguar said there were a lot of predators with things to say, and ideas to share in all shapes and forms. It was obvious that he accepted the suggestion. At first, only a few predators volunteered. They chose to express their ideas through freestyle rap. Though Kain had some issues with some of their word choices, he gave the performances a fair amount of praise. As time went by, seeing just how happy the performers left the wooden stage, more joined in. The medium of their performances became diverse. They were singing, making speeches, poetry and more. Their enthusiasm and passion delighted Kain. He felt the joy of learning and seeing the world in new perspectives once again. Most animals his age would reminisce about the reckless things their younger selves had done. On the other hand, he was remembering how stages like this were regular occurrences during the war.

The show was reaching the end. The final performer was a bear with glasses. He was going to recite one of his favorite poems, called 'Shine'. The bear felt surreal doing this. He never would have thought of doing this in prison and never would he have thought that his poem would be heard by this many mammals. Had the city rewarded artists like him better, he wouldn't have missed out on this strange, yet wonderful experience. At the full frontal assault of applause from both the inmates and Warden Gwendolyn, he said, "Calm down everyone. I have not solved the world crisis yet." The audience just laughed, then simmered down, giving him the silence he needed. The bear cleared his throat.

" _Gleam._

_Where the street lamps are broken, leaving 14-year-old first-time hookers unable to see what they're getting into._

_Then shine._

_For the 14-year-old last time hookers and everything, they went through._

_Shine in the dark places._

_Where shadows cast shadows against the backdrop of husbands who cannot stop hitting their wives._

_Where the children of brutalized mothers grow up blowing out birthday candles wishing their fathers would die._

_Spark._

_In the wombs where unborn babies are getting high because their mothers won't even try to stay clean._

_Gleam._

_For the unseen victims of bullies who live like magic lamps within a demon like genies waiting to grant wishes of violence when they are rubbed the wrong way._

_Shine in the dark places and shine like the day because love never had a childhood._

_Because hate grows up too soon._

_So shine where the silver spoon tarnishes itself against charity_

_Where teeth sharpen themselves against frailty._

_Where every family tree falls in a forest with no one around to hear, and Dear John letters are composed by those who never learned how to read or write._

_And the only reason our hindsight is 20/20 is because we've had too much practice looking over our shoulders._

_As if we could expect to find behind us anything other than the mistakes we made._

_This is where debts paid for servitude are being taxed._

_Where the fates of other countries are being faxed to phone lines tapped by governments who are sending soldiers instead of relief._

_Where every belief you believe in is questioned by those who can believe what you believe if your credit card clears._

_This is where a bus driver steers past the bus stop on the wrong side of town because he's thinking about his kids and how tomorrow's headlines might read._

_This is where need under-weighs want._

_Where the ghosts of hip-hop hunt street corners rattling gold chains that shine in the dark places._

_Where a rookie hand traces chalk around the fallen body of an 8-year-old boy._

_Where leaders meet to deploy more soldiers on soil that is not their own._

_Where hospitals are blown up for a part in the heart of a matter of the heart that is breaking like the levies of a city forgotten by its own government._

_This is where letter-bombs are sent COD to those already DOA, and this is just FYI._

_This is where the reasons why I mean about as much as a platinum-plated clutch to someone who lost their leg to a land mine after being promised there would be no more landmines._

_This is where the lines we drew in the sand where crossed._

_The unattended swimming pools where 2-year-olds who could not swim were lost._

_Where holocaust survivors are now the victims of Alzheimer's leaving them trapped in a nightmare past where the last thing they can remember is the first thing they wish they could forget._

_And they see their sons and daughters as nothing more than strangers they've never met._

_These are the dark places where we against all likelihood must shine just to make sure we're doing everything we can._

_That we're voting for every candidate who ran on a platform of maybe we're more than we've been told._

_Maybe 100 years is not too old to start thinking about what it is you want to do with your life._

_So flash like the blade of the knives we hold to the throats of those that would have us believe love isn't for everyone._

_Then shine so you know you've always been someone._

_That the sun that shines for them shines just as bright for all._

_That those we call friend lend strength to our backbone when standing alone with something they can never let us do._

_Because they packed their bags ready to travel with us past everything we go through._

_Preparing to shine in dark places._

_To tie together the shoelaces of boogeymen, then shine under the beds and in the closets._

_By the monsters move out we owe them nothing._

_Because bedtime stories have never been about tragedy._

_They've been about leaving breadcrumb trails to help us find our way back from catastrophe._

_We were never meant to live like millionaires going broke having spent worthless fortunes living on uncertainty._

_So we must shine for all the times others will not._

_Like fireflies playing against the backdrop of midnight._

_Because despite everything you've been told, you can be bold beyond what others believe you to be._

_So see in yourself what you wish others to see, be brave in a way others may never know, live like the undertow which catches and keeps stars spread across the night._

_Shine in the dark places._

_Lend the world your light."_

The bear took a bow, tears barely contained in the corner of his eyes. Some animals among the crowd shared the same struggle. Everyone then went quiet. Too quiet. After a few seconds, Kain could feel the pressure. Everyone was waiting for his reaction.

What should he do? He could not just give the bear and everyone the same treatment as Judy. That day was too perfect for everyone in this wretched place. For the longest time, the prisoners finally felt like free mammals. They had spent most of their lives in the darkest depth of despair. Now, when there was a gleaming light, would Kain have the heart to snuff it away? He should if he truly believed in his words. No matter how brilliant the light was, it could never outshine the darkness around it. At one point, it would die out. If its purpose was so pointless, snuffing it out now would be the same as (if not better than) letting it die slowly.

"Schoche? Are you quite alright?" Koslov asked.

Kain stood up. His face was stern and cold. He looked straight at the bear on the makeshift stage. The bear and the rest of the audience were getting worried. Despite knowing Kain for only so long, they knew that this reaction was unusual. The lynx would have started laughing by then. The predators held their breath as Kain's hands started to move. Maintained that straight face, he started clapping. He did so for a good twenty seconds then stopped. Everyone was still silent. Even the wardens outside of the inmate circle would not dare to speak.

Kain reached his head up. He emptied his lung for a hearty laugh. He pointed his index finger in a random direction. "Hahahaha, got you good." He slapped his thigh. "Come on, lighten up, brothers. I was just messing with you." The other predators began to snicker. The bear on the stage felt like he was on execution ground a few seconds before. Now he was saved before the first trigger pull. Soon, everyone lifted the pressure away and started applauding. The sound flooded the room and oozed beyond the prison walls. Kain made the bear's and the rest of the predator inmates' day a little better by saying, "Thank you for coming. I'm looking forward to our next show."

_A few minutes earlier, at the mountain_

Nick and Judy's quest for the peak was nearing its end, as was Nick's will to continue. The fox was holding onto a wooden staff for dear life. Judging from the slope that Nick and Judy were on, that was not an exaggeration. He was panting heavily. The back of his shirt drenched in sweat. The blood on his nose had hardened half an hour before. He had been fighting back the urge to scratch ever since the first sweat touched the side of his snout. His throat felt a stinging sensation, as if he had drunk a liter of vodka with a sore throat. His back and thighs wanted him to give up. As much as he wanted to, that would not be a good idea. He regretted thinking how this trip could not be worse than the ZPD's training. The worst part was that they weren't even done, and they had already hiked up nine kilometers. While Nick wished to stop at the third kilometer, Judy, advanced upward at a steady pace. The way she climbed and jumped made Nick wonder if she was a mountain goat during a past life.

Nick leaned onto a tree and nailed the staff down. He reached his head up, gathered a sufficient amount of air to speak. "How the hell," he panted. "Are you not tired yet, Carrots?" She did not answer him. Instead, she continued onward until she was out of sight. His heart began to ache. Not because of how she just ignore him like that. She had been doing that ever since their hike began. No, it was his body saying _Just stop you idiot!_ An idiot he was. Yet, unlike most idiots, who would just ram their heads forward, Nick wanted to learn. He wanted to know why she insisted on climbing this mountain.

However, he wondered if the curiosity could drive him forward anymore. His thoughts began to shift. It was not like her to leave him behind like this. When he was having troubles with the academy's training, she was there. Now, she acted as if he did not even exist. It felt like abandonment. Nick shook his head and moved forward. He did not want to doubt her like that. Besides, all would be clear if he pushed himself a little more.

A few minutes later, he found her at the peak. Judy solemnly stood. A gust passed by. Nick had a mini heart attack. She was so close to the edge that he thought she could fall down. Judy kneeled down, bracing herself against the wind. Nick tried to get to her as fast as he could. The wind forced him to take it slow.

When the last bit of gust had gone, she rose up. The rabbit had a look down. From here, she could see the city in the distance. It stood there, amidst rivers and vibrant green stretches. It looked so peaceful from this point of view. Just like before, it was beautiful from a distance. She knew that was not the case up close. That made her shake her head. She wanted it to be forever beautiful in her mind. Judy took in all the cool, thin air that she could. Nick was coming closer. What happened next made him take a step back.

Judy screamed. "KAIN! I HATE YOU!" She stopped for a refill. Nick grimaced. That was not the volume he expected coming from her. She continued, "THIS WORLD IS NOT FOR YOU TO DECIDE!" She looked up. "I'M STILL GOING TO CHANGE IT!" She closed her eyes, fighting back her tears. "I'M NOT YOU. I'M NOT GIVING UP! AND I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!" The sharpness of her words cut into the back of her throat.

Nick gently touched her shoulder. "Judy, Judy."

She turned to him. "Go away Nick! I need some space." Her voice was slightly hoarse.

He withdrew his hand. "No, I mean, can I join you?"

She looked at him, paying attention to his eyes. She did not see any hint of deception, only sincerity. Seeing no reason to deny him, she let him stand by her side.

The two of them exchanged smiles, then turned back towards Zootopia. They took a deep breath in unison, shouting as one, "WE WILL NOT GIVE UP!" Their combined voice echoed and traveled across the mountain peaks. And who knew? Maybe their words were able to reach someone.

* * *

**Author note:**

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me the motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to update these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is one of my first stories so please forgive possible mistakes in the future and help me fix them.

Thanks again and have a pleasant day.


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